Prodigy
by AkitaNeruVocaloid
Summary: Max is a musical prodigy. Only her family knows of her great talent, because at school she spends her time studying science. Max is trying to find a cure for cancer, because her little brother is dying from the terrible disease. She is proclaimed the school nerd. Fang is the school player, and is among the many kids who thinks that Max has no talent. Iggy is her only friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I might not catch all the mistakes because I'm typing this on Doc Manager instead of word. Okay, here goes.**

_Fang POV_

"What? So Max Ride is trying out for music?" I asked Lissa. Lissa was one of the school's most popular girls. Moreover, she was easy to get. I like playing girls. So what? I'm just that kind of guy. She also knew who we were going up against to get into the music class. Beating Max Ride wasn't going to be much of a challenge. My fraternal twin is her best friend and I've asked if she has talent. He says he's never asked her or that she never told him about any kind of talent, musical or theatrical. She probably doesn't.

"Yep," Lissa said snidely, "We have practically no competition."

"You got that right."

Max Ride is the school's loner. She only has one friend, my brother. She's also a klutz, a nerd and to my knowledge, talentless. As Lissa and I walked to class I saw Max.

"Hey klutzilla!" I called. I don't feel bad for making fun of her. She would be just as easy to get as any other girl. She ignored me until I shoved her into her locker, causing her to drop her stuff.

"Just leave me alone," she said, "Or are you gorillas?"

"What?" Lissa asked in her 'intimidating' voice. It wasn't that intimidating but oh well.

"I'm not surprised that you have the intelligence of a house fly. You seem stupid." Max said. I flexed my biceps to make her afraid to mess with my girlfriend. She didn't seem bothered.

"I'M NOT STUPID!" Lissa shrieked.

"Well you could have fooled me. I mean, who would wear that much make-up?"

"I would! In fact, all popular girls wear make-up. I doubt you do though."

"I wear Chap-Stick. Or is that above you?"

"Chap-Stick is for losers," Lissa said.

"That's why it's above you. Because too much make-up is for imbeciles."

"I'm not an imbecile," Lissa said. She stormed off. I'll give Max this, she's quick. She can come up with a retort on the spot. I walked the rest of the way to try-outs. Lissa and I had sweaty palms. I looked at Max. She and Iggy were talking. She didn't seem nervous.

"Max," Iggy whispered, "I've never heard you play an instrument or sing. I'm not sure about this."

"Trust me Iggy. I've been playing piano and guitar since I taught myself when I was five. I'll be fine."

As people were called back for their private auditions I saw that Max was reading. She was called and then I went up. I just played guitar for them. The rosters would be out tomorrow.

_Time Skip: The Next Day_

I looked at the rosters. I scrolled down to Ringer. Yeah, my last name's Ringer. I passed over the name _Ride, Max _when I was looking for my name. I looked back up and saw that she and Lissa were both in the class. At least Lissa was there. I was starting to like her. I was surprised that Max was in the music class. I walked to the music classroom. She was sitting in the back corner drawing or writing or something. There were my friends Ella, Nudge, J.J and Angel **(Everyone in the Flock is the same age. Sorry I forgot to tell you).**

"Hey guys," I said. I had played them all but they were still friends with me. It was kind of strange though. They didn't like me but they were still my friends. Almost like they were biding their time for revenge.

"Hey Fang**."**

"Class," Mrs. Medria said, "I will be splitting you up into five bands. There are twenty-five of you so you have just enough. You will each stay after school to work on five songs that you will present at the annual school music festival. The whole school will be there and you will ALL be required to perform."

Max, Ella, Angel, Nudge and J.J. were all in a band together. I was with Iggy, Lissa, Sam and some guy named Dylan. Dylan was constantly staring at Max. The guy seriously needed a new hobby. It was stalkerish.

We had Fridays after school and Max's group had Thursday. There was another girl group that had Wednesdays and then the other groups were "boy-bands" they obviously had Monday and Tuesday.

_Max POV_

The only reason I'm in this class was because Ari wanted me to join it. He always listened to my music. He was my little brother. He was only half my size and was seven. He was dying in the hospital because of cancer. I want to major in Science and try to find a cure for cancer. He doesn't have a very high chance of survival. He wanted me to join the music class. He said that if he was still alive for the Music Festival he would come and watch me. I used to pick him up but I can't now. Him being shorter than me he would always stand on his toes and kiss my shoulder before bed. Mom worked the night shift a lot. Dad left years ago so I had school, the work, then homework, then I had bed. I always made sure to stop at the hospital and visit Ari every day though. I hate hospitals but the little guy means so much to me.

I walked out of the school. I didn't have a car so I always walked to the hospital then work. Work starts at four thirty but my boss loves Ari so when I come in fifteen minutes late she's cool about it. I walked into the hospital. Fang was there with Lissa. Lissa's mom was really nice, she was Ari's nurse. She didn't approve of Lissa but she still loved her because they were related.

"Hi Mrs. Thompson," I said when I passed her on my way into Ari's room. Lissa walked up when she saw me talking to her mom.

"What is SHE doing here?" she asked.

"Her brother's here Lissa," Mrs. Thompson answered. She knew that Ari was a touchy subject with me.

"Why? Did he try and kill himself?"

"No. He wouldn't be here if he didn't have to be," I said. I walked into Ari's room to avoid her.

"Hey buddy," I said as I walked in. He had a room to himself. I was happy for him. He didn't really socialize well. We both lacked skills in that department.

"Hey Max!" his face instantly brightened when I came in.

"How you feeling?"

"I feel a little better." his voice was raspy but still sounded somewhat like the seven year old he was before the cancer had struck.

"That's good. How's Mrs. Thompson treating you?"

"Really good. She's so nice. She stopped at the library today just to pick up a book for me to read!"

"I'm glad," I said, "I made it into music!"

"That's great. Now I know I'll get better!" he said.

"Why's that?"

"Because I have to make it to the Music Festival. I want to see you perform!"

"Well you get some rest," I said, reluctant to leave, "I have to go to work."

"Bye Max."

"Bye Ari."

As I walked into work I saw Fang. No surprise there. He always comes here after school and hanging out with his friends and Lissa.

_Fang POV_

I waited for Lissa to be done talking to her mom about how Max was so stupid and all. I heard Max talking to her brother. I could only catch bits of the conversation. I heard her brother say he would come to the Music Festival and that he would get better. Lissa was done so I dropped her off at Bridgit's place. They always hang out after she hangs out with me. I went to Grace's Diner. The shifts change every half hour so I expected to watch Max get fired when she walked in fifteen minutes late.

"Hey Grace," she said, "Sorry I'm late. I was visiting Ari."

"Oh," Grace said, her voice full of sympathy, "How is the little guy?"

"He says he's feeling better."

"That's good."

"I just hope it can last. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Tell him to get better soon."

"I will." Max smiled. Whatever was wrong with her brother must be serious because I've heard that Grace will fire you if you don't have a good excuse for being late.

When Max walked over to see if I needed anything I decided to ask her about her brother, "Hey Max, what's wrong with your brother?"

Instead of leaning over the counter and whispering and being flirtatious, like any other girl at school, she just tensed up.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's not something I tell strangers. Or aqquaintences for that matter," she said.

"Okay," I said, "It's clearly a touchy subject. I just heard you talking to Grace and it sounded like he could die soon or something."

She seemed like she was trying to control herself. "You know what, you should mind your own business," she said. Then she walked away.

She finished her shift and walked home. I followed her on foot.

"Hey," I said.

"Stalker much?"

"Just wondering why you were so upset."

"I'm not falling for your tricks. I will tell you this. The little seven year old that means the world is dieing in the hospital and I worry every day that I will go there and he'll be dead. I always worry I'll be to late. When you have that kind of pain maybe I'll let you into my world, but until you know how I feel, stay away."

"Fine," I said. I wasn't going to pressure her into telling me or anything.

She walked inside and I walked back to my car.

_Max POV  
Time Skip: Thursday at band practice._

"We should each write a song for someone we care about or someone who's hurt us," Ella said.

"Is this a revenge scheme?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, "We want to get back at Fang."

"Well, I already have a song written for you. I've heard so many stories about Fang. I have a couple for girls who want revenge."

"Let's hear one of them," Ella said while eyeing me skeptically. I had brought my guitar today.

I started playing Jar of Hearts **(This song DOES NOT belong to me. Neither does Maximum Ride for that matter).**

They looked at me in awe.

"What?" I asked.

"I didn't know you had that much talent," the Nudge girl said, "You're like a proffesional! How long do you practice? I'm not that good and I practice for two hours a day! How long have you been playing? I've been playing since I was nine."

"I've been playing since I was five. I also play piano. I don't practice much. It kind of comes naturally," I said.

"Wow, you must be, like, a prodigy!"

"I guess you could say that." I was flattered. I didn't like showing flattery and such thought so I kept that to myself.

We brainstormed some song ideas for their revenge on Fang.

"What are you going to write about Max?" Ella asked.

"I'm writing a song for my little brother."

"Why?"

"He's dieing of cancer. Please don't tell anyone. I don't want peoples pity."

"I won't." she seemed sincere. I hoped she would keep her promise.

_Fang's group_

"Okay Fangy," Lissa said, "How about you play lead guitar. I can sing, Dylan can play rhythms and Sam can play bass!"

"What about me?" Iggy asked.

"What can a blind kid do?" Lissa asked. That ticked me off. Iggy was my brother so I still stuck up for him.

"He can play keyboard pretty well."

"Fine."

We started out and only got one song done. I heard that Max's group had their entire act ready. We clearly wouldn't do as well as them.

**And that's a wrap. I hope you liked it.**

**Please review.  
**** It's right there and it only takes a few seconds.  
VVVVVVVVVV**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey. I forgot two things last chapter  
1) Thank you coaxiecat123 for helping me out with my summary. It would have been much weaker if you hadn't helped.  
2) I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the songs. I am not a man nor am I older than fifty. There. Now you know I'm a girl.**

_Max POV_

On Monday Fang and Lissa broke-up. Just as I expected. I walked into music and Mrs. Medria announced that there weren't enough funds for the Music Festival so we would have to raise the money ourselves. I turned to Ella, Nudge, Angel, and J.J. when Mrs. Medria said to brainstorm some ideas in our respective groups.

"How about we perform in the park?" J.J. asked.

"Good idea," I said, "And we can try to get a concert in the park set up and sell tickets. Then the proceeds can go to the festival!"

"Sounds like you girls have some great ideas," Mrs. Medria said while walking over to us. Everyone else stopped talking when she said that.

"Like what?" Angel asked.

"Like the performing in the park. All of you can perform in the park!"

"What?" Lissa asked, "You're seriously going to tell us to perform in the park?"

"Yes," Mrs. Medria said, "I am. Now you can change who you're sitting with if you want to work with someone in the park."

"How about we do an act as a band?" Ella asked, "We can come up with a name, perform in the streets then when we do the concert we can already have a little bit of a fanbase!"

"Great idea Ella," Nudge said, "Can we Max?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"You're the lead singer AND the songwriter! You have the most say," she said it like it should be obvious.

"I'll need some help getting my keyboard to the park but I'm cool with it."

"YES!" Nudge and Ella shouted, causing wierd glances from people. We wrote two more songs for our act. I walked to the hospital after school as usual. Only this time, Ari and I were interrupted by a rather unwanted guest.

_Fang POV_

So Max's group obviously had their thing all planned out while I was stuck with four bickering idiots and my ex. Oh, joy. As they bickered I thought about my next target. I decided I would get Max. She may seem hard to get at first but she can't be that hard, can she? I followed her to the hospital. Mrs. Thompson wanted to talk to me about Lissa's and my break-up. When she was done I went in to "Ari's" room. I saw her talking to him. She seemed like a brighter person when Ari was with her.

"Hey Max, guess what!" his voice was raspy but held a note of glee in it.

"What buddy?"

"Mrs. Thompson said I'm definitely getting better and that I might be able to come home soon!"

"That's great!" She seemed the happiest I had ever seen her. She and her brother were obviously close. I walked in.

"Who's that Max?" Ari asked.

"Remember when I told you about Fang?"

"You mean the guy who thinks that girls have no feelings and doesn't talk?"

"Yeah," she said laughing, "that guy."

I blinked at how she had described me to Ari.

"Why are you here mister?" Ari asked. He was kinda cute.

"Just wanted to talk to Max," I said.

"Well you can't," Max said, "I only get so much time to talk to my little brother. Now go away."

At that moment her cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" her face brightened at whatever the other person said.

"Thanks Grace. It means so much to me." She hung up afterwards.

"What was that about?" I asked.

She ignored me and turned to Ari. As she and he talked I heard her say something about getting the day off. I looked around Ari's room. There were a few cards from people but what really caught my eye was something next to his bed. There was a locket. I picked it up and was about to open it when something smacked it out of my hand.

"Nosey much," Max asked. Ari had wide eyes.

"What's in there that's so important?"

"Like you need to know." Then I saw a matching locket on Max's neck. They were in the shape of wings. One was a right wing the other the left. Max had the left and Ari had the right. He wasn't wearing his (obviously) but it clearly meant a lot to them that they weren't in the hands of strangers. I left shortly later.

_Max POV_

After that jerk Fang left I told Ari about the concert my friends and I were trying to plan for a few weeks from now.

"I can't wait! If I'm out in time I can go see it!"

"Yeah buddy, you can." I checked the time. It was six-thirty, "I need to go but I'll be back tomorrow alright?"

"Alright Maxie." I smiled. He was the only one allowed to call me that. And he knew it too.

* * *

_The next day at school_

"OMG! MAX!" Nudge screamed while we were walking down the hall toward music. Fang stopped and seemed to be listening with a smirk on his face.

"What Nudge?"

"I got us scheduled for six weeks from today!"

"At the park?"

"Yep."

"Seriously? We need to start on a song list!" Fang didn't have any idea what we were talking about so we got awkward glances from him.

"Ella," I said as I sat down.

"What?"

"Nudge got us set up for the park six weeks from today!"

"That's great."

Mrs. Medria walked in and asked about the arrangements for the park were going. Everyone chipped in their own two cents. I was sitting there and so was the rest of my group. We had a name picked out. We decided on the name _Avian-Americans _since we all felt like we should have been born with wings. We worked on our song list for the concert in six weeks.

* * *

_Fang POV_

I saw Max's group talking during Mrs. Medria's little speech about how we had to keep these things school appropriate (as if) and they started debating something. Mrs. Medria didn't seem to mind though. When she released us Lissa went over to where Bridgit, Cameron (one of her friends, played her two years ago) and Jessica (another one of her friends, played her shortly before Lissa). They were doing a dance routine. Iggy and I were doing some kind of keyboard/singing thing. Max and her group stayed together. At the end of class Mrs. Medria wanted you to shout your band's name if you had one. Ella, Nudge, Angel, J.J. and Max all shouted, "AVIAN-AMERICANS!" at the same time. They had a wierd name.

* * *

_That weekend at the park._

Iggy and I had finished our act and we walked around to see the other ones. Lissa's group had a routine that the principal never would have approved. There were some other music acts. As we were walking around I saw a small crowd. As Iggyand I got closer I saw Angel holding a violin, Ella with a guitar, J.J. with a bass, Nudge at drums, and Max was at a keyboard. She started singing shortly later.

_2 a.m., where do I begin?_  
_Crying off my face again_  
_The silent sounds of loneliness_  
_Wants to follow me to bed_

_I'm a ghost of a girl that I want to be most_  
_I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well_

_Dancing slowly in an empty room_  
_Can the lonely take the place of you?_  
_I sing myself a quiet lullaby_  
_Let you go and let the lonely in to take my heart again_

_Too afraid to go inside_  
_For the pain of one more loveless night_  
_But the loneliness will stay with me_  
_And hold me 'til I fall asleep_

_I'm a ghost of a girl that I want to be most_  
_I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well_

_Dancing slowly in an empty room_  
_Can the lonely take the place of you?_  
_I sing myself a quiet lullaby_  
_Let you go and let the lonely in to take my heart again_

_Broken pieces of_  
_A barely breathing story_  
_Where there once was love_  
_Now there's only me and the lonely_

_Dancing slowly in an empty room_  
_Can the lonely take the place of you?_  
_I sing myself a quiet lullaby_  
_Let you go and let the lonely in to take my heart again_

After she was done I could see how she had gotten into music. She was pretty talented. I stored that away in my list of Things I Can Use To Get Maximum Ride.

"Hey Max," I said, catching her just as she was packing up.

"Leave me alone."

"Have we no manners Ms. Ride?" I asked in a fail of a British accent.

"No. No I don't, and neither do you. Answer your question?"

I looked at her. She walked away. I followed her to the hospital where she was visiting Ari. Instead of him laying on his bed in his room he walked out to Max. He seemed tired when he got to her but he seemed happy to actually hug her as well.

"You're certainly getting better," she said.

"Yep. Mrs. Thompson said that I can come home tomorrow! She said that you could walk me home when you get home instead of me being wheeled out!"

"That's awesome buddy! I can't wait."

"Neither can I. I don't like the smell in this place."

"Neither of us do."

I wondered why. It only smelled of antiseptic in here. She walked out, completely ignoring me. Somehow her brother was making a miraculous recovery. I walked home after leaving the hospital.

**Okay, that's a wrap. I have some shout-outs.**

**To:**

**Dot Ride: I hope she gets well. If I get anything wrong in this story then feel free to correct me.**

**coaxiecat123: Thank you for the suggestions, and summary. I will try to do both of those things.**

**Rose to the MAX: I'll think about it. I was thinking of using Miles by Christina Perri.**

**tomgirl1313: I won't spoil it for you but you can probably guess by this chapter.**

**Guest: Yes, ten seconds is a few. It's more than a few actually.**

**eternalreader62: I'm sure you're not the only one scared of Fang in this story. Do you think he's kind of stalkerish?**

**8th bird kid (guest): See shout-out to Rose to the MAX for details on Ronan. As for Ari dieing, no, I would not kill him off. I would not be able to write that. I wouldn't want to either because that would be really sad. And I don't like really sad things.**

**Elemental Dragon Slayer: Yes, yes he is. Maybe on the romance. I don't do a draft of this or anything. I just type it up on the Doc Manager and post it. I make everything up as I go so any romance is because that's where my very dark mind took it. According to my friends my mind is a scary place.**

**That's it. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Peeps, **

**I forgot to say, the song last chapter was THE LONELY by Christina Perri. Shout-out to:  
t1gert: I was planning on this being a no wings story, sorry.**

**THE OTHER SHOUT-OUTS WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

_Fang POV_

I watched Max carefully the next day. It was raining when school was out so I took this as an opportunity.

"Hey Max," I said, "Since you're taking your little brother home today do you want a ride?"

She hesitated, "Sure. But only because it's raining."

"I can deal with that."

I drove her to the hospital and went in with her.

"Max," Mrs. Thompson said, "are you dating Fang?"

"No," she said, "he just offered to give me and Ari a ride since it's raining."

"Okay," Mrs. Thompson seemed to accept this, "Remember to bring him back once a week for cancer treatments."

"Okay, I will," Max said.

As we walked she was talking with Ari.

"Can you make cookies when we get home, Max?" he asked.

"Do you _want _me to burn the house down?" she asked jokingly.

In the car Ari fell asleep so I started up a conversation with Max.

"So you brother has cancer?"

"Yeah," she said, "but that doesn't mean I want your pity. Or anyone else's for that matter."

"Okay," I said, "Jeez, someone's in a bad mood."

"No," she said, "I don't like playboys."

"Who said I was a playboy?" I asked.

"How about the ten girls you dated in middle school and the four that you've played since the start of high school? Oh, and your brother," she said. When we got to her house Ari woke up.

"Hey Max?" he asked.

"Yeah buddy," she calmed down in an instant.

"Can we play Battleship?" he asked, "I never got to play board games in the hospital."

"Okay buddy, we can play Battleship," she got him out and helped him walk inside. He was only about half her height but she was tall for her age. He had hair similar to hers but his eyes were green, not brown. They walked in and I drove home.

* * *

_Max POV_

I walked in with Ari. I was glad someone gave us a ride, even if it was Fang Ringer. Ari grabbed Battleship off of the shelf of board games we have. As he and I set up our ships he started a conversation.

"Hey Max," he said, "Dad came and visited me in the hospital. He said that Mom told him about the cancer. He said he wants to come back. I'm not sure if I want him to though."

"Well if he does then we'll be sure he doesn't hurt us again," I said. I had broken my leg five years ago and he came back then too. He left later to "find himself". That had always been his excuse. He always needed to "find himself". He was the inspiration for Jar of Hearts **(again, Christina Perri owns this song, not me).**

"Yeah," he said, "we won't let him get close to us. He's a jerk. And he smells of anti- antispet- antisetp-"

"Antiseptic?" I asked.

"Yeah, that!" he said excitedly. There was a knock on the door.

"Hey Max," Jeb said. I called him Jeb because he never did anything like a dad.

"Hey Jeb," I said icily, watching with satisfaction as he flinched under my glare and spitting tone, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come back," he said, "I heard about Ari and..."

"Like when I broke my leg FIVE years ago? Like then? You want to come back, see if he's all better and when he's completely fine just leave and go 'find yourself' again?" I said to him.

"No," he said, "I want to be a part of you guys lives."

"Well you can't be. You're a despicable human being and I forbid you to ever set foot in this house or come near Ari!"

"You can't forbid that Maximum," his jaw was set, "I am your father! I tell you what to do, not the other way around!"

"Yeah," I said, "then why am I the one who goes to work everyday and helps Mom pay for Ari's treatments? Why am I the one who has taken care of Ari and helped him EVERY SINGLE TIME HE HAD A NIGHTMARE! Why am I the one Ari goes to for advice? Huh? You want to play the father card, well it's not that easy. You may have made us, but you didn't raise us!"

"I see," he said tightly, "well then I will just have to talk with your mother."

"Good luck with that b- jerk."

At that he left. Ari was shaken up by the entire ordeal. I walked over to him and hugged him close.

"Max? Why did you force him to leave?"

"Because Ari," I said, "he came back once before. He said the exact same thing then too. He doesn't mean it and I don't want you to be left hurting when he decides he needs to 'find himself' again."

"Okay." We played Battleship until he got too tired. I helped him up the steps to his room. I walked downstairs and started on my homework. I finished for almost all of my classes except English. I went to bed and decided to finish it in the morning.

_Fang POV_

Okay, yeah, I knew where Max lived because she was on my street. I lived six houses down. About five minutes I got bored and decided to go for a run. I saw someone outside Max's door. When she opened it she didn't seem to happy.

I listened in for a while, catching bits of conversation. Then I heard her say something completely surprising, "Yeah, then why am I the one who goes to work everyday and helps Mom pay for Ari's treatments? Why am I the one who has taken care of Ari and helped him EVERY SINGLE TIME HE HAD A NIGHTMARE! Why am I the one Ari goes to for advice? Huh? You want to play the father card, well it's not that easy. You may have made us, but you didn't raise us!"

I thought she had two parents living with her. I had always assumed that she worked for a little extra spending money.

She went inside and I finished my run. As I was running I thought about what I had witnessed between Max and her father. Could she actually have a deep twisted history? Could she actually be real, and not like most of the girls at school? Could she actually have a mind not focused on boys and shopping? She obviously didn't like her father very much. That in and of itself was clear. She seemed like she was real when she was talking to Ari. I thought back to all of the times that she had been at my house when one particular incident came up.

_Flashback_

_Max came in and she whispered something to Iggy. Iggy leaned back with a look of shock that only he could pull off. Then he hugged her. I saw a small tear roll down Max's face. She seemed upset but I didn't care. She regained her composure and then challenged Iggy to a game of Halo. Which, surprisingly, Iggy is really good at, despite being blind. They played six matches before Max had to go home. She whispered something to Iggy and Iggy burst out laughing._

_"What did you say?" I asked._

_"Something about you," she said, "Something along the lines of 'Hey look, there's that guy who has no soul.'"_

_I glared at her as she walked out._

_End Flashback._

Then I realized why she had shed a tear (which she never does). She had found out her brother had cancer. I finished up my run. Iggy had some bacon made. I sneaked up behind him and stole three pieces.

"Fang give my bacon back," he said.

"How'd you know I took it?"

"Because. I heard the door close, your footsteps, and then I didn't hear anything; meaning that you went into stealth mode. Reason, you wanted bacon."

"Dang it." I said to him. I turned and went upstairs to finish my homework.

* * *

_The next day at school._

_Max POV_

I walked into homeroom and sat in the back corner, where I always sat. The teacher came around the room looking to see that we were occupied with something class related. I was putting the finishing touches on one of the songs for the concert. When the bell for first period rang I walked to my English class. I had finished my homework just before I had to leave. With Mom working the night shift and leaving at seven o'clock it works perfectly for me to go to school, go to work, and then get home. We need to have someone to watch Ari. He is only seven after all.

As I got into English I saw Fang sitting in MY normal seat.

"Move it Ringer," I said, "that's my seat and I didn't want to wring someone's neck today."

"Good play on words, Max," my teacher, Mrs. Carlisa said as she walked out the door to make copies.

"Thank you," I said, "Now Fang, get. Out. Of. My. Seat."

"No."

I refused to take no for an answer so I went behind him, picked up the chair (which caused me to pull a muscle in my arm, ow) and then dumped him off of it. Then I put his stuff on the ground next to him and sat down. He just grunted and walked to HIS normal seat. No one else was in the room at the time so when they saw a bruise forming on the side of Fang's face in the shape of a desk leg they knew that he had an unfortunate 'accident'. After the day was over (you don't want to hear about my boring classes, do you?) I walked to Grace's Diner.

"Hey Max," Grace said, "You're early today. Why aren't you visiting Ari?"

"He's at home. Mom's staying with him till I get home then she has to leave for work so things work pretty well."

"I'm glad," she said, "How about you go spend some time with him?"

"You already gave me a day off last week Grace! I can't take another day off."

"Yes you can," she said, "You never take a day off and family is important."

"Thanks Grace," I said. I couldn't believe it! She gave me the day off! I walked out just as Fang walked in. He didn't follow me, thank goodness. As I got home Ari was getting ready to go to sleep. He didn't have much energy.

"You're home early!" Mom said.

"Yeah," I said, "Grace gave me the day off."

"You know, you did the right thing keeping Jeb away. I don't want him hurting Ari like he hurt you. I know that you hide the pain Max," she said at me eye-roll, "You are stronger than Ari. He's only seven. You were eleven when that happened. He's only seven. It would crush him."

"And you think I don't know this? Where's my mother and what have you done with her?"

She laughed and we talked until my phone buzzed. I had a text from Ella. And Iggy. And Angel. And Nudge. And Angel. They all sent it as one text.

_J.J.: I didn't want to do this. I was forced into this. I'm leaving the explaining to Nudge. _

_Nudge: Hey Max, do you want to practice for the concert? Iggy said he'd appraise how we do and stuff so, yeah. Ella wants to talk to you and I want to meet the little guy. Come over in an hour?_

_Iggy: I will listen to you play Maximum Ride. You never let me in on your little talent. Why not? I'm ashamed of you._

_Ella: We need to work out how we're going to dress for the concert. SO MANY DETAILS! It's so CONFUSING!"_

_Angel: What they said plus, Fang will have Lissa and his group over so we can torture them with how good our music is. _

I laughed at Angel's text. Despite the name and the looks, she was quite the devil child.

I texted back to let them know that I would be there as soon as I could, if Ari wanted to go.

Ari woke up about twenty minutes later.

"Hey buddy," I said, "do you want to go meet my band mates?"

"Sure," he said, "do we have to walk though?"

"No," I said. Ella offered to pick us up, "My friend said she could pick us up."

He raised an eyebrow, "You have a friend? And she's not a guy? Where's the real Max?"

"Yes, I have a friend that's not a guy." I texted Ella and she came over a few minutes later. Now, I would normally walk to Iggy's, I mean, he lives six houses down, but like I said earlier, Ari doesn't have much energy so Ella offered to pick us up on her way to Iggy's.

"Thanks Ells," I said.

We walked in and immediately my friends started to talk to Ari. Ari sat down in the practice room. Iggy was there too and he had his keyboard in there.

"Hey guys," I said after everyone had met Ari and talked to him. He looked wiped, "I added the finishing touches to My Immortal."**(Evanescence owns My Immoral, not me)**

"Oh," Nudge said, "You mean you made it perfect to throw in Fang's face what he does to people?"

"Yeah," I said, "Now, let's practice."

I gave the others their sheet music. They didn't have many parts. They said they wanted it to be sad, and they thought the best way to accomplish that would be if the piano was the only thing with the music until the bridge. Then they would come in. We practiced our individual parts for five minutes before we put it all together.

_Fang POV_

Max's group had come over because Iggy wanted to hear them. I listened as they practiced their individual parts. I walked down and joined Iggy and Ari just before everything was combined.

_I'm so tired of being here_  
_Suppressed by all my childish fears_  
_And if you have to leave_  
_I wish that you would just leave_  
_'Cause your presence still lingers here_  
_And it won't leave me alone_

_These wounds won't seem to heal_  
_This pain is just too real_  
_There's just too much that time cannot erase_

_[Chorus:]_  
_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_  
_When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears_  
_And I held your hand through all of these years_  
_But you still have_  
_All of me_

_You used to captivate me_  
_By your resonating light_  
_Now I'm bound by the life you left behind_  
_Your face it haunts_  
_My once pleasant dreams_  
_Your voice it chased away_  
_All the sanity in me_

_These wounds won't seem to heal_  
_This pain is just too real_  
_There's just too much that time cannot erase_

_[Chorus]_

_I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone_  
_But though you're still with me_  
_I've been alone all along_

_[Chorus] _

I applauded, along with Ari and Iggy.

"Well," Ella said, "Looks like Fang is dumb as a doorstop."

"What do you mean," I asked while looking at her and the others.

"That song was to show you what a jerk you are," Ella said. Max just started shuffling through sheet music.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're soulless," Ari said, "at least, that's what Max said. She said that you think girls are toys and that they don't have feelings. She says that you hurt a lot of girls."

"What do you mean?" I asked Max.

"You act like nothing matters. For one to have a soul they need to have something that clearly matters to them. For me it's my little brother, for Ella it's her music, for Angel it's her dog, for Nudge it's her friends. Do you see what I mean. You don't have something that clearly matters to you so therefore you don't have a soul," she said.

"Then by that logic people who have Alzheimer's don't have souls!"

"No," she said, "that's different. They had something that mattered to them but they just don't remember what it was. They still have a soul."

I was backed into a corner when the doorbell rang. I took Iggy up to work with our group. We could hear Max's group while we were working and it was honestly really hard to listen to their excellent music while what we had was crappy. Lissa was terrible at singing and was more into trying to get attention through dancing. Dylan sucked at drums and Sam wasn't that good at bass. He was pretty good but the way Lissa wanted everything layered, they sounded terrible. Iggy couldn't use his keyboard since he lent it to Avian-Americans. We were all good at these instruments (except Lissa, she was terrible at singing) but we didn't meld like the girls.

The girls left after a little while and Iggy helped with the melding situation with his keyboard. It didn't help much but it was something.

**Okay. That's a wrap. I hope you liked it. SHOUT-OUT TIME!**

**To:**

**Skatzaa: He knows now!**

**xXxAroenoelExXx: I like your sense of humor. Good luck with that social studies essay.**

**Rose to the MAX: Yes Rose, you are very special.**

**imaddictedtocarrots: Thank you. What do you think of this chapter? **

**Elemental Dragon Slayer: I'm glad you like how easily Max and Ari get along. I do to. Yes, Fang would need a lot of luck to win Max over. **

**And that's that. I hope you liked it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hola peoples,**

**I update as often as possible. I might be putting my Hunger Games & MR crossover up for adoption because I can't get anything good to come of it unless I bring Max and Katniss home but I don't think people want that. Now onto this story. I have a lot of people saying they like how Fang's charm doesn't work on Max. Well, there's a reason for that, I wanted this story to play off of a cliche plotline or two and make it completely my own. There will be shout-outs at the bottom, as always. One person said to add Fax so I did. I hope you don't mind. She still hasn't fallen. She'll only fall for him if you want her to. Tell me in your reviews. Or PM me. Either one.**

_Max POV_

I was walking, minding my own business when that jerk had to come up. And so did Dylan. That's when the trouble came.

"Hey Max," Fang said.

"Hey Maxie," Dylan said in a possesive tone.

"One, Dylan, don't, and I mean DO NOT call me Maxie. Only my brother can call me that. And two, I'm not your girlfriend, or even your friend so drop the possesive tone," I said. Then I rounded on Fang, "Don't talk to me. Or better yet, go away and never come back."

Then I turned away from both of them. Dylan proceeded to follow me.

"Go away Dylan," I said.

"Not until you go out with me," he said.

"So what? Your going to stalk me forever?"

"Pretty much." I looked at him wierdly and walked to my next class. In the middle I was had to go home early. Mom had an extra shift today so I had to go home to watch Ari, as he wasn't back at school yet. As I walked out I saw Dylan standing outside the classroom. He followed me to the water fountain.

"Will you stop following me?" I asked.

"Nope," he said.

_Fang POV_

I was walking to the bathroom. I saw Max getting a drink. That Dylan guy was with her.

"Will you stop following me?" she asked.

"Nope," Dylan seemed like he was going to follow her everywhere. I walked up silently. As I came up behind Max Dylan's expression changed. That may have been because of the completely menacing glare I was sending towards him. Combined with Max's, of course.

"What are y-you d-doing here?" he asked.

"Are you stalking Max?" I asked. I was still sketchy on whether or not she actually had a soul and was real.

"N-no," he stuttered at the same time that Max said, "Yes. He even sits outside of my classes."

"How long?" I asked.

"Started today," she said matter-of-factly.

"What's wrong with me following my prize?" Dylan asked. Dylan's the worst playboy ever. He TELLS you he's going after you and he doesn't even try to hide when he's going to dump you.

"She's not your prize man. She may not look like it but she's real. She's not like every other idiot in this school. She won't fall for any fake charm."

He looked stunned. He looked at Max. He seemed to not know anything about her. Bad move there. You ALWAYS have dirt on your next target.

_Max POV_

I couldn't believe that Fang was sticking up for me. He always seemed soulless. After he had Dylan shaken up and leaving I confronted him.

"Why did you do that?"

"I wanted to prove that I actually do have a soul," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you need to have something that clearly means a lot to you to have a soul, right? Well, you mean a lot to me so I don't want him stalking me."

"You don't mean that. You've proven that you _don't _care about me or other girls to many times for me to believe that."

Then he did something totally unexpected. He pulled me close and kissed me. I melted at first but then got a hold of myself. I pulled away.

"Let's go," he said.

"Wait," I said, "Don't you have class?"

"I'm gonna ditch. What about you, don't you have class?"

"Yeah, but I also have an early dissmissal."

"Oh."

He tried to give me a ride but I didn't take him up on me. I was worried about why he kissed me. I mean, really, why would you kiss a girl just to prove that you have a soul? And what was that about me being something he cares about? And why did he say that stuff to Dylan?

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful, but it was so strange. He was acting wierd. I passed it off as him wanting to play me. When I got home Ari enveloped me in a hug.

"I didn't know if something happened to you Maxie," he said. The I realized that the whole Dylan/Fang thing had put me off about fifteen minutes.

"I'm sorry buddy," I said, "I had some problems at school that put me off a couple minutes. Come here."

I took him to the kitchen. I stuck some pasta in the microwave for him. I may not be able to cook but I can use a microwave.

"Here you go," I said.

"Thanks Max," he said. He was really cute, in that little brother way, not as in boyfriend way. That would be, just, ew. He was tall and gangly for his age. He had forest green eyes and blonde hair. He was pale from all the months in the hospital, where as I was pretty tan from hanging out with Iggy (playing with explosives gives you a pretty impressive tan).

I walked over to where I had his unfinished homework. He had kept up with his studies pretty well despite being sick but he still had some stuff to do.

"Let's work on some of this," I said. He was learning multiplication.

"What's seven times two?" I asked

Without missing a beat he says, "Fourteen."

We continue with this for an hour. When I'm done quizzing him I help him with his English assignments and then his Science and Social Studies. We get almost everything done.

"I'm proud of you buddy," I said, "You got all of that done in three hours. That's pretty good since you're still a little sick."

"Do you know when I can go back to school Maxie?" he asks.

"No buddy I don't. We have to go visit Mrs. Thompson tomorrow afternoon so how about we ask then, all right?"

"Okay. Maxie, I'm tired," he says. I take him up to his room. I sit down and start my homework. At about four o'clock there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Max," Fang said, "I was wondering what the homework for Biology was. Iggy forgot to write it down when the teacher said it aloud and didn't want to screw up again and go to one of your neighbors houses."

"It's reading pages 167 to 183 in the textbook, answering the questions on the worksheet and then you need to summarize everything you read."

"Thanks," he said.

Just as he opened something to talk again I got a phone call.

"Yeah," I said.

"Hey Max," it was Nudge, "The girls and I want to know if we can do band practice at your house."

"Okay," I said.

"Okay," she said.

After we hung up Fang smirked, "What was that about?"

"The girls are coming over for practice."

"Can I listen?"

"Depends, we have some songs outside of our norm, if you want to listen to them then come on in. If you don't then don't bother," I said.

"Okay," he said, walking in.

After the girls got here we warmed up. We needed to practice Going Under **(owned by Evanescence, not me).**

_Fang POV_

The girls started the song after warm-up.

_Now I will tell you what I've done for you -_  
_50 thousand tears I've cried._  
_Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you -_  
_And you still won't hear me._  
_(going under)_  
_Don't want your hand this time - I'll save myself._  
_Maybe I'll wake up for once (wake up for once)_  
_Not tormented daily defeated by you_  
_Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom_

_I'm dying again_

_I'm going under (going under)_  
_Drowning in you (drowning in you)_  
_I'm falling forever (falling forever)_  
_I've got to break through_  
_I'm going under_

_Blurring and stirring - the truth and the lies._  
_(So I don't know what's real) So I don't know what's real and what's not (and what's not)_  
_Always confusing the thoughts in my head_  
_So I can't trust myself anymore_

_I'm dying again_

_I'm going under (going under)_  
_Drowning in you (drowning in you)_  
_I'm falling forever (falling forever)_  
_I've got to break through_

_I'm..._

_So go on and scream_  
_Scream at me I'm so far away (so far away)_  
_I won't be broken again (again)_  
_I've got to breathe - I can't keep going under_

_I'm dying again_

_I'm going under (going under)_  
_Drowning in you (drowning in you)_  
_I'm falling forever (falling forever)_  
_I've got to break through_

_I'm going under (going under)_  
_I'm going under (drowning in you)_  
_I'm going under_

It sounded like another revenge song. I got up and was walking out just as Ari was walking in. He fell over and as I helped him up Max came over.

"Hey," she said softly, "what are you doing up? I thought you were tired?"

"I heard you and yoru friends practicing and wanted to listen," he said. They were obviously close. I left shortly later.

**And that's a wrap. What do you think of Dylan trying to be a stalker?**

**Shout-outs.**

**TO:**

**imaddictedtocarrots: There, that has a little bit of Fax. Though Max still hasn't fallen.**

**WhiteWinterAngel: Well, Ari and Max had some nice brother-sister moments in STWAOES so I figured they would have gotten along great if they didn't have wings and weren't mutant freaks. I used that as the brother-sister thing. As for Lissa, she really doesn't have a big part. She might come in later, trying to get Fang back. But she isn't going to be overplayed as a slut. Thank you for the compliment.**

**xXxAronoelExXx: Thank you. I like that image you gave me of Fang's group. Very funny. **

**Skatzaa: You don't like Fang in this story, do you?**

**coaxiecat123: Did I do a good job with the description of Ari? **

**That's all folks. Thank you to all who reviewed and I'll try to update tomorrow. **


	5. Chapter 5

**HI!**

**I'm back. Who here likes Evanescence? What about Prince of Tennis (that's an anime)? Just wondering. ON WITH DE STORY!**

_Max POV_

After Fang left the girls were acting crazy.

"Oh my gosh, Max," Ella said, "If Fang weren't a player I'd say you should go out with him. You, him and Ari looked like a family. I mean as in like mother, father and son family. Not as in that brothers and their sister way."

"Absolutely not," I said, "One, he's a playboy. Two, I have too much on my plate to worry about having a boyfriend. Three, I would never, under any circumstances go out with Fang Ringer. He is- just- no."

We practiced for a while. The subject didn't come up again. Thank goodness, he didn't have a soul no matter what he said he was trying to prove.

_Fang POV_

After I got home I remembered why I went over to Max's in the first place. Iggy hadn't forgotten to write the homework for Bio, we had band practice. As I walked in I was assaulted by Lissa's high and squeaky voice.

"Fangy!" she screeched, "You made it!"

"Yeah," I said, "Let's get started."

We played for a while. Iggy left to talk to someone on his phone.

"Hey guys," he said, "I know Lissa's the unelected leader but I found someone who could re-write the lyrics and all so it sounds better."

At this most of us (excluding Lissa) sighed in relief. We had made it an unsaid mission to get someone to re-write.

"Who is it?" Dylan asked.

"It's Avian-Americans. I've heard a lot of their music so I decided to see if they would re-write for us. Luckily, Angel picked it up and was able to convince Max and the others to re-write. What songs do we want them to re-write?"

"How about Bring Me To Life?" I offered. That was met by approval.

Afterward we only had five songs we wanted re-written. We were told by Mrs. Medria to only put five songs in our act anyways.

Iggy called Max back and gave her the list.

"Yeah," he said, "The songs are called Bring Me To Life, Sweet Sacrifice, Skyway Avenue, Break Your Little Heart and finally Love Story."

They arranged for her to recieve the sheet music and such the next day at school. I wanted to see what would come out of this.

_Max POV_

When I got the sheet music I immediately started changing things. According to Iggy, Lissa had written all of it. She had no concept of harmony. I added things to the songs. In Bring Me To Life I added a major part that consisted of a male background vocalist. I had each song finished and approved by the end of the day.

"Hey, Iggy!" I called. He was with Fang so they both came over.

"What?" he asked.

"Come over tonight at six thirty," I said. I had to quit my job at Grace's with classes and the preparations for the concert, "We'll be warmed up and such. Then we can show you what we have."

"You finished already?" Fang asked.

"Yeah," I said, "All it took was a some editing and lyric additions. What you had worked with a few simple changes for harmonization. That's what you were lacking after all," I said. I knew a lot about music so when Ella and the girls asked for the English translation I said in simple terms, "It needed some stuff changed to make it work together nicely."

"Why couldn't you have just said that?" Fang asked.

"Because, I said it in terms that are recognized by anyone who knows as much about music as I do."

"Which would be no kid who has ever and will ever attend this high school," he said.

After Music I walked home, as usual. When I got there Ari came up to me with my guitar.

"Hey Max," he said, "I heard you tell that boy you were going to re-write some songs for him so I was wondering if I could here them!"

"You can when he and his group come over. That will be at six-thirty," I said. Ari was always worn out the day after treatment so it surprised me how energetic he was today.

"Okay," he said. He was looking forward to going back to school in a few weeks. He always did his school work whenever he got it, unless he was too tired.

_Fang POV_

Our group (the name is whateverwecallourselves) showed up at Max's at exactly six-thirty. We were taken to the practice room. Lissa couldn't get over how 'cute' and 'innocent' Ari was.

"Leave my brother alone," Max said, "he's tired enough as it is, he doesn't need you fawning over him."

She and the girls started up Love Story. Lissa had made it heavy metal. Avian-Americans made it softer, almost like country.

**(Love Story by Taylor Swift)**

_We were both young when I first saw you._  
_I close my eyes and the flashback starts:_  
_I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air._

_See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns._  
_See you make your way through the crowd_  
_And say, "Hello,"_  
_Little did I know..._

_That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles,_  
_And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"_  
_And I was crying on the staircase_  
_Begging you, "Please don't go"_  
_And I said..._

_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone._  
_I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run._  
_You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,_  
_It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"._

_So I sneak out to the garden to see you._  
_We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew_  
_So close your eyes... escape this town for a little while._  
_Oh, oh._

_'cause you were Romeo - I was a scarlet letter,_  
_And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"_  
_But you were everything to me,_  
_I was begging you, "Please don't go"_  
_And I said..._

_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone._  
_I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run._  
_You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess._  
_It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"._

_Romeo, save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel._  
_This love is difficult but it's real._  
_Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess._  
_It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"._

_Oh, oh._

_I got tired of waiting_  
_Wondering if you were ever coming around._  
_My faith in you was fading_  
_When I met you on the outskirts of town._  
_And I said..._

_Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone._  
_I keep waiting for you but you never come._  
_Is this in my head? I don't know what to think._  
_He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said..._

_Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone._  
_I love you, and that's all I really know._  
_I talked to your dad ‒ go pick out a white dress_  
_It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"._

_Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh._

_'cause we were both young when I first saw you_

Lissa applauded but looked disgusted. She stormed out before Max had me come up for Skyway Avenue. She told the others to perform where they would normally perform so we could try each song. We waited for Lissa to come back for the others. She seemed to have calmed down. We performed each song and they all sounded much better. The songs that Lissa didn't like were the ones that had a guy singer (coughmecough). She didn't like being outside of the center of attention. She also didn't like how I still was playing guitar while singing. She said it might be distracting for me to sing and play. She didn't know how to play guitar though so I kept my position. We kept practicing and the girls left at some point. When we finished we realized that we had enjoyed practice this time, instead of grimacing at how bad we sounded (though Lissa could work on her singing, just saying).

As Iggy and I walked out I looked into Max's window. She was still up. She was at her desk, probably working on homework. She seemed so real, especially when she was playing her music. I wondered if I was wrong. I wondered if some girls lived for things besides make-up and boys. I wondered how many times I've questioned my motives to play Max. I wondered what was up with her and her dad. When we got home I helped Iggy with his homework. I could pass an AP class, I just don't take them. I went to bed afterward. I lay there all night, looking up at my ceiling. So many things were going on in my head that I almost didn't hear my door open. Or when Iggy came in and asked me what I thought about Max.

"I think she's real," I said.

"Of course she real dumb-a," that's the thing about Iggy. He and Max never swear.

"I mean as in she isn't just a cookie-cutter priss or nerd. She's her own person," I said.

"I think Fangles has a crush," he said, "And I think it's on my best friend. So some ground rules, nothing inappropriate. And if you hurt her, I break your face."

"Got it Ig," he seemed like he knew something about Max that I didn't. Of course he did, I mentally face-palmed.

"Hey Ig," I said, "What's up with Max's dad? He was there one time when I was on a run and she said something about him not being there and how he wasn't really a father to her and Ari."

He tensed, "Her dad- left. He left when she was eight. He came back when she was eleven after she broke her leg," I remembered when she broke her leg. We were outside for recess and she fell. There was a sickening crack but she just said she was fine. She limped around for the rest of the day. She didn't even cry when she was limping, and it was clear it hurt. There were times when she'd hiss in pain, under her breath though, so no one but those closest to her heard it. The only way a teacher knew it was broken was when she fell again and a little piece of bone started to stick out. It was gross, but she said it wasn't that bad, "he stayed until we were all thirteen. Ari was two at the time. If he's back because he heard about Ari, then Max is trying to protect him. You can't tell anyone about that though. If anyone found out it could destroy Max. She's fragile. More than you know. Her music always has meaning because she is trying to communicate."

"Max? Fragile? What have you been smoking Ig?" I asked.

"Nothing. Max hides behind a tough girl exterior," I had what I needed. Iggy had already told me. Max was always acting tough. Always saying things didn't hurt when they really did. She only let those feelings (ugh, I hate emotions. So confusing) out through music. I had enough to blackmail her. But now I had something else to worry about. Did I really want to do that to her. It sounds like she had had a hard life. Maybe she just wanted to avoid heartbreak.

_Max POV_

I couldn't believe what I was thinking. I was wondering why Fang played girls. He would be nice boyfriend material if he didn't play people. Why am I thinking this? I DON'T NEED A BOYFRIEND! I have to much on my plate. As I have said before. I fell asleep in my thoughts.

The next day was terrible. I had Dylan bugging me (what's new there?), Fang on my mind (face-palm), and the concert was in TWO days. I was also under stress with midterms coming up. After school I dropped my stuff off at home. I walked to the woods. I had two hours to myself before I would have to go home. Mom had to leave an hour earlier than normal so being home at five-thirty was a must. I went to a quiet place I had found where I could sing my more personal songs without anyone hearing.

_Fang's POV_

I saw Max walking home. I was about to walk over to her house to talk to her when she walked out again. I followed her, wondering where she was going (I am not a stalker, do I look like Dylan?). I saw her walking into the woods. She walked deeper and deeper. I was worried about getting lost but then I watched her behavior. Her eyes were always scanning the trees. She would stop sometimes and look closely at a tree. I started paying attention. Almost immediately, I noticed that some of the trees had small marks on them. I followed her farther. She stopped at the edge of a rock wall. I watched as the girl I thought was a klutz climbed a large and difficult-looking rock wall with practiced ease. I followed and did terrible. Once I got up though, I saw her sitting with her legs dangling off of a cliff's edge.

I stepped forward, about to pull her back when she started singing. The only difference though, was that she was singing a capella. She sounded so different, so much better without instruments behind her.

**(Sweet Sacrifice by Evanescence)**

_It's true, we're all a little insane._  
_But it's so clear,_  
_Now that I'm unchained._

_Fear is only in our minds,_  
_Taking over all the time._  
_Fear is only in our minds_  
_but it's taking over all the time._

_You poor sweet innocent thing._  
_Dry your eyes and testify._  
_You know you live to break me._  
_Don't deny sweet sacrifice._

_One day_  
_I'm gonna forget your name,_  
_And one sweet day,_  
_you're gonna drown in my lost pain._

_Fear is only in our minds,_  
_Taking over all the time._  
_Fear is only in our minds_  
_but it's taking over all the time._

_You poor sweet innocent thing._  
_Dry your eyes and testify._  
_And oh you love to hate me, don't you, honey?_  
_I'm your sacrifice._

_(I dream in darkness_  
_I sleep to die,_  
_Erase the silence,_  
_Erase my life.)_

_Do you wonder why you hate? (Our burning ashes,_  
_Blacken the day)_  
_Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes? (A world of nothingness,_  
_Blow me away.)_

_You poor sweet innocent thing._  
_Dry your eyes and testify._  
_You know you live to break me._  
_Don't deny._  
_Sweet sacrifice._

I payed attention as she kept singing. The next song sounded like she was frustrated with herself. I felt like I was prying, but it was like a look into _her _soul.

**(Now by Fireflight)**

_The clock is ticking_  
_The seconds pass you by as you lie frozen_  
_You are petrified of one more failure_  
_A swing and a miss might break your heart in half_  
_Yeah I know you feel alone_  
_Don't let it break your back_

_Don't lay down_  
_Don't let it destroy you_  
_Pain is real but it's not gonna own you_  
_Not this time around_  
_(This is your time now)_  
_Get back up, gotta keep on trying_  
_Raise your fist, gotta keep on fighting_  
_This is your time now_  
_This is your time now_

_Your head is spinning_  
_The path is right before you but you're stopping_  
_The cycle locks you in and you can't see_  
_That you're so close to finally being free_  
_Yeah I know, yes I know_  
_That you can turn the key_

_Don't lay down_  
_Don't let it destroy you_  
_Pain is real but it's not gonna own you_  
_Not this time around_  
_(This is your time now)_  
_Get back up, gotta keep on trying_  
_Raise your fist, gotta keep on fighting_  
_This is your time now_  
_This is your time now_

_You're not hopeless, you're not worthless, no_  
_You are loved, don't give up now_  
_This is your time now_

_Don't lay down_  
_Don't let it destroy you_  
_Pain is real but it's not gonna own you_  
_Not this time around_  
_(This is your time now)_  
_Get back up, gotta keep on trying_  
_Raise your fist, gotta keep on fighting_  
_This is your time now_  
_This is your time now_

She stopped and sighed. She looked out on the horizon. There were mainly trees but she seemed to be looking just in general. I sat down behind her. She started again

**(Unbreakable by Fireflight)**

_Where are the people that accused me?_  
_The ones who beat me down and bruised me_  
_They hide just out of sight_  
_Can't face me in the light_  
_They'll return but I'll be stronger  
_  
_God, I want to dream again_  
_Take me where I've never been_  
_I want to go there_  
_This time I'm not scared_  
_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_  
_No one can touch me_  
_Nothing can stop me_

_Sometimes it's hard to just keep going_  
_But faith is moving without knowing_  
_Can I trust what I can't see?_  
_To reach my destiny_  
_I want to take control but I know better_

_God, I want to dream again_  
_Take me where I've never been_  
_I want to go there_  
_This time I'm not scared_  
_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_  
_No one can touch me_  
_Nothing can stop me  
_  
_Forget the fear it's just a crutch_  
_That tries to hold you back_  
_And turn your dreams to dust_  
_All you need to do is just trust_

_God, I want to dream again_  
_Take me where I've never been_  
_I want to go there_  
_This time I'm not scared_  
_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_  
_No one can touch me_  
_Nothing can stop me  
(repeat)_

I stood up. She hadn't noticed me. I sat down next to her.

"You're really good you know," I said, "I mean a capella. You really sound a lot better without instruments. It sounds real"

"You heard that?" she asked, "Why were you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you. You were walking out to the woods so I figured I would just ask you there. I didn't realize how hard it is to navigate when you haven't gone to the woods in seven years," I said.

"Oh," she said.

We sat in silence for a while. After about ten minutes I broke the silence, "Why aren't you like other girls? How did you become so different?"

"Because, I didn't want to be a mold. I didn't want to be cookie-cutter. I wanted to be my own person," she said, "I wanted to feel like I actually mattered. My life sucks, just like everyone else's, but I'm my own person. I can be myself and no one questions it. Once you build a reputation as something, that means you are that. But if you don't try to be something, if you don't set a reputation, you aren't ever judged. People never try to label you. I don't want to be labeled. The only label that fits me anyways would be Max. You probably don't care about that though. You can have any girl you want. You have looks, confidence, grades, and a reputation."

I made a split desicision. She was real. She was her own person. She wasn't something other than Max. "I do care. Part of the reason I play girls is because none of them are real," I said. As I spoke I was realizing this for the first time, "None of them are their own person. I guess I just wanted to find one that was outside the crowd. One that wouldn't follow a trend because it's the latest. One that would be completely and utterly herself. And about the 'I can have any gir l want,' I can't have you. You aren't like other girls. You aren't able to be owned." I considered leaning in and kissing her, but thought better of it.

"That's deep, but I still don't believe you. It will take a lot for me to trust you as even a friend," she said. She got up and climbed down the rocks.

"Max," I said, "I mean it. You're different. You're like a real person. Not like a high school girl."

"So I'm like an older woman?" she asked sarcastically.

"No," I said, "You're like a person. There's a different. Girl's like Lissa stay that way their whole lives. You seem like you could change entirely."

She seemed to ponder this for a moment. She walked through the woods.

"Hey!" I shouted, "Wait up! I can't navigate the woods by myself!"

"Then hurry up!" Max called back. I ran up to her. I talked to her for a while. She and I both cracked a couple of jokes. When we got out of the woods she seemed happier than I had ever seen her. She seemed genuinely happy. Not like she was putting on a facade of happiness. As we got to my house she waved and walked the rest of the way to her house. I watched her until she got in. I would have walked her there but it's only six houses down. I walked in and was assaulted by questions from Iggy.

"Where were you? Who were you talking to? Why was she laughing? Why was her laugh so familiar? It wasn't Max, was it?"

"In the woods. Max. Because I said something funny. Because it was Max. And yes it was Max," I said, "Does that answer all of your questions?"

"WHY WERE YOU WITH MAX?" he shouted.

"I wanted to talk to her so I followed her out to the woods," I said, "we talked on our way out of the woods."

"What did you do in the woods?" he asked, "This is serious Fang, if you did anything like _that_ then I have to break your face. Possibly your neck."

"It wasn't like that Iggy. She went up onto a cliff," I said.

"And you kept her from jumping? Thank you Fang," he said.

"No, she was just sitting there. She sang some stuff and I listened. Then we talked on our way out of the woods," I said.

"She didn't try to jump?" Iggy asked.

"No," I said, "why would she have?"

"No reason," he said, "it just would have added excitement to my, oh so boring life."

"You're a terrible friend, you know that?"

"Only when my friends don't know what I'm saying."

"I could easily tell her."

He waved his hand like those people in Star Wars, "You will not tell her."

"I will if you don't stop acting like a retard."

"Okay," he said. He walked over to the oven and pulled out brownies. I gave him a questioning look. Then I remembered he can't see.

"Iggy, why are you making brownies?"

"If you don't go out with Max you can have all of them," he said. What. A. Retard.

"Ig," I said calmly. Though inside I was mentally face-palming, "We're not ten. We're sixteen. Brownies aren't good currency anymore."

"Dang it," he said, "I had to make them for a school function but I decided to bribe you with them. Didn't work though."

"Okay," I said, "I'm going to go up to my room now. You're being awkward again."

"I'm always awkward," he said, "You should know this as my twin brother."

"Yeah, I should."

_Max POV_

After I got home I was left with questions. What did Fang mean by I was my own person? Wasn't that obvious? I mean, what other girl is sarcastic, funny (or so I've heard), and can still climb a rock wall? What did he mean by I was the only girl he couldn't have? What did he mean by I wasn't able to be owned (not that I'd want to be)? I mean, most guys get a girlfriend and say, "She's mine," whenever another guy flirts with her. That's one reason why I never date. I was so confused. I went up to Ari's room. He was studying. There was a test on Monday, the day he went back to school. He was so excited about school that he had studied non-stop except for meals and sleeping. He didn't even want to play chess, his favorite board game, anymore. He said maybe after he gets back to school, but not until then.

"Hey buddy," I said.

"Hey Max," he said. He seemed like he was twelve or thirteen, not seven and soon to be eight.

"What are you working on?"

"Just math. Wher were you? You usually go to the woods for half an hour and then come back. You were gone for your entire two hours this time," he said without looking up from his books.

"Talking," I said.

"With who?"

"With a-," moment of truth. I made a snap-desicion. Let's hope it was the right one, "friend."

"Which one? You seem pretty popular these days."

"Har har, very funny," I said sarcastically, "Just a friend. You've met him so don't try to kill him. Besides, you probably couldn't, seeing as your only in second grade."

"So what? I just want to know who it is!"

"Fang," I said quickly.

"Soulless? Since when were you two friends?" he asked. He seemed so much more mature than he really was. He must have learned sarcasm from me, seeing as Mom really doesn't like it.

After doing my homework and getting Ari to bed I lay on my bed thinking of Fang for some reason. I knew I couldn't fall for him. He would dump me. He would play me and be gone. Then I would be one of many in his graveyard.

**And that's a wrap. Does anybody want Fang and Max to end up together (besides imaddictedtocarrots)?**

**Shout-out time! **

**To:**

**fallingstars97: What did you mean by something bad was going to happen to Ari?**

**Elemental Dragon Slayer: Well, add Max's ultimate death glare to Fang's ultimate death glare and you get something that is likely very scary.**

**xXxAronoelExXx: You scare me. A lot. And I'm not kidding. That was stalkerish/creepy. How do you fade into the darkness? *gulps***

**WhiteWinterAngel: Yes, yes he has. Now Max just needs to fall for him.**

**Dot Ride: Thank you. I listen to music as I write so if I hear a good song I make a mental note of it to use it if I get the chance.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi. I'm back. If I get song suggestions that would work for the story then I might use them, if I can find an appropriate place for them. **

**ON WITH DE STORY!**

_Fang POV_

I was walking to school, I felt like walking. Okay, fine you random people, I wanted to talk to Max.

"Hey Max," I said.

"Hey," she said. She didn't sound annoyed like she usually did.

"So, Winter Dance is coming up and I don't have a date," I said, "Would you go with me?"

"I would but I have midterms in Bio and Chem the next day. I need to study that night."

I would have to check with Iggy, seeing as he said he was going to the dance and Mom told him he wouldn't get to cook anything if he failed his midterms. I still had a small desire to play Max but I also wanted to help her. I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself.

"Really? Let me see your testing schedule," I said. She handed me her schedule. Sure enough, she had tests the next day.

"Does Iggy have the same schedule?"

"Yeah," she seemed confused, "Why?"

"He's going to the dance. If he fails the midterms he can't cook. We all know how much the blind pyro likes cooking."

"Yep," she responded, "That's why we have extra study sessions in the school library. He wanted to go to the dance. Didn't he tell you?"

"No," I said, "He just said he had 'after-school stuff'."

"Oh," she said. She was quiet for a second and then her face looked alarmed, as if she had just remembered something.

"I have to go," she said. She tore off toward her house. I saw her come out with her keyboard and without her bag.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" I asked.

"I have to get to the park!"

I was confused. Then I saw something on the school bulletin board. It looked familiar. It was an advertisement for a concert at the park. Tonight at seven. And the bands performing were Avian-Americans and a 'surprise special guest'. As I walked into school everyone seemed to have noticed this.

"Hey Fang," Iggy said, "What's this I heard about a concert in the park tonight?"

"It's at seven. Avian-Americans and a 'surprise special guest' are performing. It's to raise money for the Music Festival, I guess."

"Oh," he said, "Do you want to go?"

"Sure," I said. I saw Lissa coming, "Gotta go, she-beast at six o'clock."

As I left I heard Iggy sprinting away screaming something like, "GET THAT SHE-DEVIL OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!"

Lissa seemed to have taken offense, seeing as she sprinted after him... and tripped over the "Wet Floor" sign. You read right, she tripped on the sign, not on the floor.

_Max POV_

We (as in Avian-Americans) had decided to find another way to rais money for the Music Fest. Seeing as what happened with the concert in the park.

Ella's dad was one of the people who arranged events at the park. He was nice enough to let us have tonight, he had an oppurtunity for another band, one more well known than our high-school music class band. As in Paramore** (Do you Paramore fans reading this love me? There will be a LOT of Paramore songs. They are part of the concert next chapter.)**. Paramore was performing after us. Ella had mentioned to her father that she loved Paramore so he offered them an opportunity to play at the park. They accepted and when Ella's dad had trouble fitting us in for a concert, they offered to have us before them. We were essentially opening for them. Hayley Williams was here already and so were Taylor and Jeremy. Since we all loved Paramore we were pretty excited.

"Hey guys," she said as she walked up to us. We were laying cable, trying to help however possible, "Do you want some help?"

"Sure," I said.

"Max," J.J. hissed, "That's Hayley Williams. You don't just talk to her like a normal person!"

"Yes," I hissed back, "Yes I do talk to her like a normal person."

J.J. face-palmed and Hayley looked confused.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said, "J.J. just loves you guys and she thinks you're some kind of higher-up in the world."

"That's not it," J.J. said, "She talks to you normally. What I want to know is why she isn't flipping out. I can barely contain my excitement! What is with her?"

"Maybe she just acknowledges that we both have a love of music?" Hayley offered.

"Max? Love music? When were you born?" Ella asked, "The girl's a prodigy. You should hear her. She can play anything and sings so amazingly."

"Let's warm-up together then so I get some idea of your talent leve," Hayley said, "Since we're both performing and..." she trailed off.

"AND WHAT!" J.J. screeched, causing us all to flinch.

"And I was going to have you guys perform with us a bit," Hayley finished.

"Sweet," was all Angel, Ella and I said. J.J. and Nudge on the other hand, there was a lot of fangirl squealing until Ella slapped her hand over J.J.'s mouth and I slapped mine on Nudge's.

"Is that normal for you guys?" A voice asked from behind.

I turned and saw Taylor. "Yeah," I said. I wasn't really flipping out. They're some of the people who are well-known because of their music. They aren't any different from us, right?

He laughed, "I guess I can see why. I heard the Nudge girl talking a million miles per minute. How do you understand her?"

"Practice," I said, "Lots and lots of practice."

At this Taylor started laughing even harder. I kept talking to him as we layed the cables. He seemed nice. Too bad, I didn't need a boyfriend.

"Taylor totally digs you," Hayley said after he left.

"What?" I asked.

"He likes you," she said, "Can't you tell?"

"No," I said, "Not really."

"Well," she said, "If he asks you out, you better say yes."

"I can't," I said, "I have midterms coming up and I have all AP classes."

"_All_ AP classes?" she asked, "How did you pull that one off?"

"Determination and a LOT of studying," Ella answered for me.

"Just go on one date with him," Hayley pleaded, "You'll like it, I swear!"

"Fine," I said, "IF he asks me."

After we had all of the cables set up we had about an hour to warm-up. As we warmed up Hayley came over to listen.

"You guys really are talented!" she said, "Max is amazing for vocals and keyboard and you Ella do AMAZING on guitar. Nudge is great at percussion. Your bassist, J.J. is absolutely fantastic and Angel does very well with her violin!"

"Thanks," we all said together.

"That was creepy," she said, "Did you plan that?"

"No," I answered, "That was a coincedence."

She talked with us for a while and we went over to watch them warm-up. We had an hour until the concert. We were taken backstage and were put in different clothes and (shudder) make-up. We were all given a necklace that had two wings on it.

Ella was in light blue skinny jeans and a white tank-top that said "Spread Your Wings" on it **(I make these things up. If there is something like that then oh well) **she had on blue converses. Her make up was some blue eye-shadow, blush and clear lip-gloss. Her black hair, being long was braided in the back but had little strands that were in the front. She had two bracelets. One was a black leather one. The other one was a bright red/pink. It had a small graphic of wings and a halo on it.

Angel was in a long white dress that showed her figure nicely, but didn't restrict her arm movement so she could still play her violin well. She also had sandals on. She almost looked like an angel. Add pure white wings and there you have it, an angel. She didn't really have any make-up or jewelry.

J.J. was wearing a black top that said "Who said I was YOUR friend?" on it in bright red writing. She had black skinnies. Her short, pink (she dyed it) hair was in a spiky mohawk. She didn't have much make up on either. Her jewelry consisted of a black choker necklace that looked like ivy had laced it's way around her neck.

Nudge was in a bright blue shirt that said "Where are YOUR wings?" on it. She had black skinnies and an anklet. The anklet was a black chain that had little wings on it. She had on black eye-shadow and blue eyeliner.

I had on a black shirt that said "You, you and you, PANIC. The rest of you, follow me." on it. I had on a minimal amount of make-up. I had my locket I always wore. It had bits of feathers in it that Ari had found. We had cut them to fit in the lockets. They fall out when the locket is opened. I also had on a bracelet that had black, gray and silver chains on it. I had black skinnies and black converses. We were going on in twenty minutes. We talked with Hayley. Apparently, Ella had gone shopping with Hayley and found this stuff. She had kept each of our looks and styles in mind when she chose stuff. Hayley thought we all looked great.

Hayley had on a dark gray shirt that looked like someone had cut the letters out of a magazine and pasted them. The letters formed the words "I'M A RENEGADE, IT'S IN MY BLOOD"** (This is actually on the Paramore website).** She had on black skinnies and black sneakers. She had a leather bracelet on her wrist and a black choker similar to J.J.'s.

Taylor had a black shirt, black skinnies and a hat. He looked pretty nice. Jeremy was wearing similar only his shirt was dark gray, not black.

We had ten minutes. Ten minutes until we opened the concert.

_Fang POV_

Iggy and I were waiting for the concert to start. It started in ten minutes. As we waited we debated who could be the mystery guest. There were a lot of people here. About half of the kids from school, some people from who knows where, and then there were people from our town and nearby ones.

As Iggy and I debated Mr. Martinez (Ella's dad) came onto the stage.

"We will be starting the concert in just a moment," he said.

As we waited I looked on stage. The girls were doing some last minute modifications to the stage. They got in their places and the lights went on. Together the girls looked great, but if you looked at Max alone she was absolutely stunning. The girls all looked different than they ever would at school. They started up.

**And that will be where I end.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back with a second chapter to make up for forgetting shout-outs last chapter. I meant to do them but was in a hurry since I had to get ready for school. If I don't update it's because I'm in to much pain from my orthodontists appointment that I have tomorrow.**

_Fang POV_

What I mean by the girls 'started up' is that Max came out to introduce the song.

"Hey guys," she said, "We're Avian-Americans. I can tell some of you know who the guest is because you don't live here. Or near this town at all, really."

They started with a bunch of songs I had heard they didn't sing a single one I didn't know but it was still nice listening to them. When intermission came they headed backstage. I went over to the stage. Really, backstage was just a curtained off area of the stage. I tried to look in but could only listen.

"Hey Max," some guy, probably from the other band, said.

"Yeah Taylor," she said.

"I was kind of wondering," he said, " since we're going to be in town another few weeks, if you would go out with me?"

"I would, but I don't really know you," she said, "And I have midterms coming up."

"I understand," he said, "Hayley put me up to this. She could kind of tell that I kind of like you."

"You say 'kind of' an awful lot, don't you? Don't worry, Hayley wanted me to go out with you. You're probably really nice but I'm _way _to busy right now."

I felt an unfamiliar emotion. It was like I wanted to hurt that Taylor guy, even though I didn't know him.

Then some girl came over. I recognized her voice vaguely.

"Hey Max," she said, "Here's your part. I hope you don't mind singing a lot!"

"You can tell I don't," she said, "I can do this."

After I heard that I went back to where Iggy was.

"Hey man," he said, "Intermission's almost over. Where were you?"

"Just walked around a bit," I said while sitting down. A few seconds later, a lot of people started chanting. "PARAMORE! PARAMORE!"

"What's with them?" Iggy asked.

"I guess we know who the mystery band is," I said.

"Paramore?" Iggy asked, "I can't believe it. How did they pull that off?"

"I don't know," I said as Hayley came up on the stage.

"Hey guys!" she said excitedly, "You all heard Avian-Americans. They're awesome, right?"

A lot of people agreed with her. She talked some more and then they sang a few songs. The thing that really surprised me is when she called Max and the girls back up to perform with them. They started the song Looking up.

**(Okay, here's the guide to the lyrics. Just so you know, sometimes the singer will change mid-line and that is NOT a typo:  
**_**Bold and italics: Hayley  
**__Underlined and italic: Max  
__Normal Italic:_ Both  
**There you have it. I hope you remember this because it applies to all songs.)**

_**Things are looking up, oh, finally  
**I thought I'd never see the day when you smile at me  
__We always pull through, oh, when we try  
**I'm always wrong, **but you're never right  
Oh, you're never right._

**_Honestly, can you believe we crossed  
The world while it's asleep?  
I'd never trade it in 'cause I've always wanted this  
_**_And it's not a dream anymore, no, oh, oh, oh  
It's not a dream anymore, it's worth fighting for_

_Could have given up so easily  
_**_I was a few cheap shots away from the end of me  
Takenfor granted, 'most everything  
_**_That I would have died for just yesterday, __Just yesterday_

**_Honestly, can you believe we crossed  
The world while it's asleep?  
I'd never trade it in 'cause I've always wanted this  
_**_And it's not a dream anymore, no, oh, oh, oh  
It's not a dream anymore, it's worth fighting for_

_God know the world doesn't need another band  
Whoa, oh, oh, whoah, oh, oh  
But what a waste it would've been  
Whoa, oh, oh, whoah, oh, oh_

_I can't believe we almost hung it up  
**Whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh  
**We're just getting started  
Whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh_

_**Honestly, can you believe it we crossed  
The world while it's asleep?  
I'd never trade it in 'cause I've always wanted this  
**And it's not a dream anymore, no oh, oh, oh  
It's not a dream anymore, no, oh  
**It's not a dream anymore, no, oh, oh, oh  
**It's not a dream anymore, it's worth fighting for_

_I can't believe we almost hung it up  
**Whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh  
**We're just getting started  
Whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh_

_I can't believe we almost hung it up  
**Whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh  
**We're just getting started, we're just getting started._

As the songs ended I was left in astonishment. Max sounded great, and so did Hayley. But together they were absolutely amazing. They harmonized perfectly. The next song they performed was Feeling Sorry.

_We still live in the same town, well, don't we?  
_**_But I don't see you around anymore  
I go to all the same places, not even a trace of you  
_**_Your days are numbered at 24._

_And I'm getting bored waiting 'round for you  
__We're not getting any younger  
And I won't look back 'cause there's no use  
It's time to move forward_

_**I tried not to think of what might happen  
**When your reality it finally cuts through  
Well as for me I got out and I'm on the road  
__The worst part is that this,__ this could be you_

_You know it too,__** You can't run from your shame**  
You're not getting any younger  
Time keeps passing by** but you waited awake  
**It's time to roll over_

_I feel no sympathy, _**_you live inside a cave  
__You barely get by the rest of us  
You're trying, there's no need to apologize  
_**_I've got no time for feeling sorry._

_And all the best lies  
They are told with finger tied  
So cross them tight, **won't you promise me tonight?  
**If it's the last thing you do, you'll get out_

_I feel no sympathy, _**_you live inside a cave  
__You barely get by the rest of us  
You're trying, there's no need to apologize  
_**_I've got no time for feeling sorry._

___I feel no sympathy, _**_you live inside a cave  
__You barely get by the rest of us  
You're trying, there's no need to apologize  
_**_Got no time_

___I've got no time for feeling sorry  
_**___I've got no time for feeling sorry_**

After they sang that I could tell that the rest of the crowd thought they sounded great together. Max did well with that song. Being a Paramore fan, I was able to tell that the next song was Where the Lines Overlap.

**_Give me attention  
I need it now  
_**_Too much distance  
To measure it out, out loud  
__Tracing patterns across a personal map  
And making pictures of where the lines overlap_

_Where the lines overlap_

_No one is as lucky as us  
_**_We're not at the end  
_**_But oh, we already won, no no  
**No one is as lucky as us  
**Is as lucky as us_

_Call me over  
Tell me how you got so far  
And never making a single sound  
_**_I'm not used to it  
But I can learn  
_**_There's nothing to it  
__I've never been happier  
Never been happier_

_No one is as lucky as us  
_**_We're not at the end  
_**_But oh, we already won, no no  
**No one is as lucky as us  
**Is as lucky as us_

**_Now I've got a feeling if I sang this loud enough  
You would sing it back to me  
I've got a feeling if I sang this loud enough  
You would sing it back to me_**

_I've got a feeling _**_(I've got a feeling)  
_**_That you would sing it back to me  
You would sing it back to me_

At that moment she looked straight at me. She continued with the song while staring at me.

_No one is as lucky as us  
_**_We're not at the end  
_**_But on, we already won, oh no  
**No one **(No one) **is as lucky as us  
Is as lucky as us  
**Is as lucky as us._

I was confused. She seemed like she was staring right into my soul.

_MAX POV (AN: I did that in all caps so you wouldn't think it was another song.)_

I had locked eyes with Fang. I could see confusion and something else in his eyes. I kept singing and kept my eyes on him. No matter how hard I tried not to, I had fallen for Fang. I would never tell him this of course, but still, he had won me over. We started singing Hallelujah.

_Somehow everything's gonna fall right into place  
_**_If we only had a way to make it all fall faster everyday  
If only time flew like a dove  
_**_Well God, make it fly faster than I'm falling in love_

**_This time we're not giving__ up__  
_**_Let's make it last forever  
_**_Screaming, hallelujah  
_**_We'll make it last forever_

_Holding onto patience wearing thin  
Can't force these eyes to see the end  
_**_If only time flew like a dove  
Well, we could watch it fly and just keep looking up_**

**_This time we're not giving__ up__  
_**_Let's make it last forever  
_**_Screaming, hallelujah  
_**_We'll make it last forever_

_And we've got nothing but time on our hands  
Got nothing but time on our hands  
Got nothing but, got nothing but  
Got nothing but time on our hands_

**_This time we're not giving up  
_**_Oh, let's make it last forever  
__Screaming, hallelujah  
Hallelujah_

We sang a few more songs, consisting of Born For This, Brick by Boring Brick and Emergency. After the concert the girls and I talked to Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor.

"Here," Hayley said, "If we're ever nearby and you want to get together to talk or play some music or anything really, just call." She handed me a slip of paper with three phone numbers. Beside each one was the first initial of the owner. We finished up our conversation. Paramore left so we all left for home.

I walked home. I heard loud, running footsteps. I turned around, ready for a fight, and saw Fang.

"Hey Fang," I said casually.

"Hey," he said.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wondering what you were talking to Taylor about at intermission."

"Oh," I said. He must have heard, "He asked me out but I declined because of midterms, class and the fact that I only met him today."

"Oh," he said, "So theoretically, if I were to ask you out on a date after midterms you would go out with me?"

"Um," I said. I know, real creative, "I don't know. I mean, you do have a history."

"So if I didn't play girls you would?"

"Maybe."

As I talked with Fang I was reminded of a lyric from Homecoming by Hey Monday:

"I want to know when the leaves begin to fall  
If I'm falling, falling apart  
For you".

**And that's a wrap. Here are the shout-outs.**

**To:**

**msmatter: I don't know. If there isn't though, I'm gonna make one. You can make one too if you want. If you want to copy any of the outfits go ahead. Except Hayley's. I found that shirt on the Paramore website.**

**Skatzaa: Well, I want you to know how the characters feel. Especially since this is a story of a player and a normal girl.**

**That's all for this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, Fanfiction is being evil and erased all of the underlines that I had for Max except a few. I'm sorry about that. Fanfiction is evil when it comes to that kind of thing. Here's the next chapter. **

**Hint: I'm going to use the song Candles by Hey Monday in the future. If any of you can guess what happens you get a special bonus shout-out next chapter.**

_Max POV_

I studied intently when I wasn't helping Ari, preparing for the Music Fest, or doing homework. By studying, I mean sitting in my room reading each textbook cover to cover for the fiftieth time or working on my online college courses, but more on that later. I may hate studying but I needed to ace my midterms. I wasn't cramming either, I still had a month and a half until midterms. That's just how devoted I am. The teacher could make midterms today and I would pass. Speaking of the teacher, my biology teacher just walked in.

"Class," she said, "there was a scheduling problem with some of your midterm tests. The test for this class was moved to three weeks from today."

There was a lot of groaning. I just made a mental note to study harder.

"Max," Maya, a girl who looks remarkably like me, said, "Why aren't you upset?"

"Isn't it obvious?" J.J. asked. She still had the mohawk, "She's probably memorized the textbook. Max, what's paragraph 23 of page 156?"

"There is no twenty-third paragraph on page 156," I said. It was true. I didn't need to read the Bio text anymore, I had memorized it.

"Really?" Maya asked, "I guess you don't need to worry about getting anything less than an A on your test."

"Yeah," I replied, "I guess you could say that."

After class I got to go home early. Why? Because Ari was getting out of school early today because of a dentist appointment (his cancer treatments were done) and Mom couldn't be there to pick him up. She works a day job now instead of a night one. She's a veterenarian. Sometimes she works late, but most nights she's home.

"Where are you going Miss Ride?" a very familiar voice asked from behind me. I rolled my eyes.

"I need to pick Ari up for a dentist appointment," I said while walking. He didn't proceed to follow me.

_Fang POV_

I only got to say six words to Max but it was enough for me to know that I could be falling for her. I couldn't make her fall and then break her heart. Not when I'm falling for her. Not when I could very easily fall in love with her. I didn't follow her. I just went to class. With midterms coming up I had enough 'on my plate' as Max would say. Great, now I'm quoting her.

* * *

_Max POV_

After Ari's dentist appointment I was driving him home. I know what you're thinking, "When did Max get a car?" I forgot to mention that my mom and dad are back together, much to my dismay since I'm pretty sure Dad's going to leave again. Anyways, he got me a car for my , J.J., Ella, and Angel wanted to coolaborate on a present for Ari. His birthday is two weeks and four days after mine. We all did what we could to earn some money for a violin. Ari had wanted to play since he was little. Angel got the idea and we've been working on it for a while. She was going to teach him as soon as he felt he was ready to learn.

"Hey Max," Ari said as we passed Je- I'm sorry, he doesn't like me calling him that, Dad's place of work, "Do you really think that Dad will leave?"

"I hate to say this buddy," I said, "but I think he will. He's done it twice. I hope for your sake that he doesn't but I can't gaurantee that he will stay."

"Won't it hurt you if he leaves?" Ari asked.

"It would have before but now it wouldn't, I've learned not to count on him as a constant in my life," I said. I hated to ruin the kid's dream of having Dad stay forever, but I would feel even worse if I were lieing to him.

"Oh," was all Ari said. We went the rest of the way home in silence.

* * *

_Fang POV_

Iggy knew just about anything that went on in Max's life. So when he told me Max's mom and dad got back together I knew he wasn't making it up.

"What do you mean Max's mom and dad are together? I thought her dad left to find himself!" I said.

"He came back, and now her mom took him back again. Max is really mad at her mom for it but she didn't get any say," he says.

"Oh," I say. I resume my homework. I heard that Max had memorized her biology text as I think this over I decide to ask Iggy about it.

"Hey Ig," I start, "Did Max really memorize the Bio text like everyone's saying?"

"Yep," he said, "Every word. She started reciting tonight's word for word during study hall. And she didn't just read it, there was no sound of page turning."

"That's just weird," I said.

"No," Iggy said defensively, "It's not. It's devotion. She has a goal and she's going to whatever lengths necessary to meet it."

"Geez," I said, "Back off. Don't kill me or anything!"

After that he was kind of angry. I guess I would be to if someone insulted my best friend like I did his.

_Max POV_

After I was done with my homework and was POSITIVE that Ari was done his, Mom took her, me, Ari, and Je- Dad to a sushi joint in the next town over. I love their sushi and she knows that.

"Why are we at a sushi place?" Dad asked.

"Because," Mom replied, "Max loves their sushi. I know you don't neccesarily **(sp?) **like sushi but I figured since she has excellent chances of acing her midterms I figutred I would bring her out for sushi."

"Oh," he said. I ordered California rolls. After dinner we went home. When we got home Dad pulled me off to the side.

"I'm going to leave soon," he said, "I know you don't care but I need you to make it easier on Ari. I'm losing my ties to reality. I need to find myself again."

"No," I said, "You're not losing ties to reality. You are being brought back to reality. You're being reminded that you fathered two children and left them and their mother to find yourself. Finding yourself is just a way for you to forget the guilt. It's the way you postpone dealing with the guilt."** (I don't know anything about pshycology so if I got something wrong I'm sorry, I'm just going off my experience with people)**"You sound like a pshycologist," he said, "And I don't know how that happened."

"It's because I've taken AP Pshycology you idiot!" I said. I had not only taken Pshycology, but had done my own research and an online college course on it. The study of the human brain and how it works fascinated me. I have a Bachelor's degree in pshycology and am working on my Masters and I'm not even out of high school yet, but being me, I want to get a doctorate before I graduate. Enough of my achievements, back to what you want to hear.

"You couldn't tell that from just a high school AP course," he said.

"Maybe when you're a constant in my life I'll feel safe enough to tell you but until then I won't say a word," I said.

After we got home I played a song for Ari. He didn't know what was going on but if I was going to help him it needed to start _before _Dad left, not after when he was already in pain.

**(Sad Song by Christina Perri)**

_Today I'm Gonna write a sad song,_  
_I'm gonna make it really long_  
_So that everyone can see,_  
_That I'm very unhappy._

_I wish I wasn't always wrong_  
_I wish it wasn't always my fault_  
_But the finger that you're pointing_  
_Has knocked me on my knees_  
_And all you need to know is_

_I'm sorry it's not like me,_  
_It's maturity that I'm lacking_  
_So don't, don't let me go_  
_Just let me know that growing up goes slow_

_I wonder what my mom and dad would say,_  
_If I told them that I cry each day._  
_But it's hard enough to live so far away._

_I wish I wasn't always cold_  
_I wish I wasn't always alone_  
_When the party is over,_  
_How will I get home?_  
_And all you need to know is_

_I'm sorry it's not like me,_  
_It's maturity that I'm lacking_  
_So don't, don't let me go_  
_Just let me know that growing up goes slow_

_If all the rules were made to bend_  
_And you swore you were my friend_  
_Now I have to start all over again_

_Cause though it's going to take your place_  
_And I'm scared I'll never save_  
_All the pieces of love we made_

_And I'm so sorry, it's not like me_  
_It's maturity that I'm lacking_  
_So don't, don't let me go_  
_Just let me know that I can slip and fall_  
_And you won't let me go_  
_Just let me know that growing up goes slow_

_And I'm so sorry_  
_It's not like me_  
_It's maturity that I'm lacking_  
_So don't, don't let me go_  
_Just let me know that growing up goes slow. _

"Why'd you sing to me Maxie?" Ari asked when I finished.

"Just want to help you little guy," I said back.

_Fang POV_

I went over to talk to Max. It was a little late but I figured it would be okay since she had only gotten home a few minutes ago. After I rang the doorbell a middle-aged man answered. He had glasses and shared some features with Ari.

"Is Max home?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" he asked. He seemed suspicous of me.

"I wanted to talk to her," I said simply.

"She's in her room working on homework. Go on up Fang," Mrs. Batchelder said. Max's last name is Ride because she took her mom's maiden name.

I walked up the stairs and heard her muttering to herself and typing. I walked into her room.

"Hey what's up," I said.

"Nothing," she said, "Just finishing up today's lesson."

"Lesson? For what?" I asked.

"Oh," she said, "I didn't mean to say that. I'm taking an online psychology course. I'm working for my master's degree." She seemed embarassed by this.

"You're getting a master's degree and your only in high school? And why pshycology? Didn't you want to find a cure for cancer or something. That's what Iggy told me," I said.

"The way the human brain works fascinates me. I do a lot of the work in a day. It takes about three hours to do four lessons. Then I have tests that take six hours, but I get to take those on weekends, seeing as the online teacher knows I have weekday priorities," she said.

"So you're basically someone who's really good in music AND a super-nerd?"

"Not a super-nerd," she said, "Just really smart."

After that little thing blew over (which took a while) we talked about random stuff. I saw a songbook sitting on her shelf.

"Hey what's this," I asked.

"Just a songbook," she said, "Feel free to look at it."

There were amazing songs in there. I could somewhat hear them in my head. I flipped to one that I had to hear the guitar and singer together to hear the song.

"Hey," I started, "Do you have a guitar anywhere?"

"Corner," she said pointing. Her room was really neat and clean so I don't know why I didn't see it. I looked over and sure enough a black guitar sat in the corner. It was an Epiphone and had a hummingbird pick gaurd **(If you go onto the Music & Arts website and go to guitars, you can find it under acoustics. It's called a hummingbird guitar. Just so you know)** it seemed girl-ish in a Max sort of way.

I picked it up and tuned it. I finished just as Max closed her laptop.

"Done?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, "I just needed to finish up with some notes and a review of them. What are you going to play?"

I started strumming, she came in at the exact right time.

**(What I've Overcome by Fireflight. The bolded part is Fang.)**

_I've got this passion_  
_It's something I can't describe_  
_It's so electric_  
_It's like I've just come alive_  
_I feel this freedom_  
_Now that my past is erased_  
_I feel the healing_  
_I found the meaning of grace_  
**_(I found grace)_**

_If only you could see me yesterday_  
_Who I used to be before the change_  
_You'd see a broken heart_  
_You'd see the battle scars_  
_It's funny how words can't explain_  
_How good it feels to finally break the chains_  
_I'm not what I have done_  
_I'm what I've overcome_

_I know I'll stumble_  
_I know I'll still face defeat_  
_These second chances will define me_  
_So I'm moving forward_  
_I'm standing on my two feet_  
_I've got momentum_  
_I've got someone saving me_  
**_(Got someone saving me)_**

_If only you could see me yesterday_  
_Who I used to be before the change_  
_You'd see a broken heart_  
_You'd see the battle scars_  
_It's funny how words can't explain_  
_How good it feels to finally break the chains_  
_I'm not what I have done_  
_I'm what I've overcome_

_I'll make mistakes and I might fall_  
_But I won't break_  
_I've got someone saving me _

___If only you could see me yesterday_  
_Who I used to be before the change_  
_You'd see a broken heart_  
_You'd see the battle scars_  
_It's funny how words can't explain_  
_How good it feels to finally break the chains_  
_I'm not what I have done_  
_I'm what I've overcome  
I'm what I've overcome  
I'm what I've overcome_

"You really wrote that?" I ask. I noticed that her father was in the doorway. I didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I wrote it about two years ago. It really helped with some things. Some unsorted emotions," she said. Her eyes got a faraway, sad look to her eyes. It made me fall faster. I was close to being completely in love, and I knew that couldn't happen. I couldn't let that happen. The reputation. I couldn't let myself fall for anyone if I wanted to be a player. But that's just it, do I still want to be a player? Or do I want to actually love someone?

"Do you want to talk about anything else and if you do, do you think it could wait until tomorrow? I need to get some sleep," Max said after a minute.

"It can wait," I said. I put her guitar back and walked out. Her father gave me an appraising look. Then he nodded. After I walked out I wondered what that was about.

**That's a wrap. Who can guess what Jeb thinks of Fang? And who likes the songs for this chapter? And who wants to kill Jeb because of what he plans on doing and how it will effect Ari? **

**SHOUT-OUTS!**

**To:**

**Skatzaa: Why thank you.**

**fallingstars97: Yes, yes it is the beginning of Fax.**

**SecretAgentGirl S13: Well then I feel honored. What did you think of this chapter?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Elemental Dragon Slayer, you have it right, Jeb approves.**

_Fang POV_

During Music Mrs. Medria announced that there was going to be three 'special performance' groups. Iggy, Lissa, and Bridgid (poor guy) were in one; Nudge, Dylan and J.J. (poor girls) were in another. The group I was assigned consisted of only me and Max. We had been told to work in the orchestra room. Mrs. Medria teaches Band, Orchestra and Music, so she can tell us what rooms to use. I took my guitar in and Max brought hers in.

"So what are we going to perform?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said, "What about the song from last night?"

"You mean What I've Overcome? We could do that," she said, "I have a couple others if you want to try them."

"Really," I said, "Let me see."

She handed me her songbook. There were several songs marked. I opened to one of them. As I started playing Max blushed at the one I chose

_Max POV_

Okay, I'll admit it, since ninth grade I had a bit of a crush on Fang. He was a player though, so I never told anybody. When he started playing Stay Close, I blushed. I had written that about him about six months ago.

**(Stay Close by Fireflight (I'm seeing them in concert next week, I'm so excited))**

_I want to know you  
There's so much at stake  
Can't face the memories  
They bend me till I break  
Hiding from the past  
But it's eating me alive  
Can't block it out  
When it's coming from inside  
Every turn leads me to a new dead end  
Lost again, I'm screaming your name_

Come close, come close  
And call my name  
How can you turn your back on me  
When you know my pain  
Stay close, stay close  
Light up the night  
Save me from the part of me  
That's begging to die

Precious denial, a stone to break my back  
The chains I carry won't cut me any slack  
Imprisoned by fear with no room for my heart  
My only hope, only you can heal the scars  
Every turn leads me to a new dead end  
Lost again, I'm screaming your name

Come close, come close  
And call my name  
How can you turn your back on me  
When you know my pain  
Stay close, stay close  
Light up the night  
Save me from the part of me  
That's begging to die

Stay by my side  
If you leave me I will die  
Stay by my side  
If you leave me I will die  
Stay by my side  
If you hold me I will fly  
If you hold me I will fly  
Will you hold me

Come close, come close  
And call my name  
How can you turn your back on me  
When you know my pain  
Stay close, stay close  
Light up the night  
Save me from the part of me  
That's begging to die  
[x2] ****

After we played that a few times we practiced Unbreakable. When we felt we had those two down, we played What I've Overcome. Just before Music would have ended, we went in to get our stuff, that's when we realized that a once soundproof room, was no longer soundproof when you left the door WIDE open. We got a lot of stares. I rushed out of there as fast as humanly possible when the bell rang.

"MAX!" Ella called. She rushed over to me, "That was amazing! When Fang harmonized with you in that last one, OMG! You guys are like, meant for each other, you should so go out with him!"

"Ella," I said, "He's a player. You know this, I know this. The answer to that will always have to letters that are adjacent in the alphabet, _no._"

"Haven't you noticed," Ella said, "This is the longest he's ever gone without flirting with a girl OR going out with a girl. Maybe he's changed."

"No," I said. I know where she's going with this, "I will not go out with him until I have solid proof that he's changed."

_Fang POV_

I would never do anything to hurt Max, at least not intentionally. She clearly had left over emotions from her father leaving twice. No matter what she says. I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to think about anything but Max. I had never felt this way about a girl since sixth grade. Now that I'm being all honest with you I might as well admit it, in sixth grade I had a crush on Max. That ended when I saw her hanging out all the time with my brother. Then I hated her. Now that I'm getting to know her (even though it's through her music) I realize I was wrong to hate her.

"Max stop being so paranoid!" I heard Ella say to Max. I watched from a distance.

"I'm not being paranoid!"

"Yes you are," Ella said, "If you weren't being paranoid then you would go out with him!"

"N-O! No!"

"Yes," Ella said, "I'll make you or I will find out your deepest darkest secret and blurt it out to the whole school."

Max glared at Ella. Whatever her secret is, she sure doesn't want anyone finding out.

"Ella," she said, "I will never let _anyone_ in to find out what my secrets are. No one needs to know what's hidden in my mind **(no, there are not wings, unless you want there to be)** it would give anyone, even Stephen King, nightmares. Well, it might just give him inspiration, but still. It's extremely dark in there."

"Fine," Ella said, "But this isn't over. You will go out with Fang."

"No I won't," Max said, "Not unless you can prove he's no longer a player."

That kind of stung. I walked to my next class in somewhat of a daze. What could Max hide that would be so dark?

**And that would be the end because I have to get ready for school, cue unenthusiastic 'whoopee'. No shout-outs this chapter. I'll do them NEXT chapter. Or I'll do a special Author's Note for them. I'm not sure.**


	10. Chapter 10

_Fang POV_

After classes the next day Iggy walked up to me, "Hey dude," Iggy said, "I snagged tickets for you me and Max to go to Haunted Harbor next weekend."

"How?" I asked. Haunted Harbor was an old harbor in town that was rumored to be haunted. Around Halloween you could never get tickets to get in. Seeing as Halloween was in three days I was surprised.

"That's for me to know," Iggy said. He then cackled maniacally.

"You're doing it wrong," someone said from behind him.

"Oh," he said. When he turned I glimpsed Max, "If it isn't Ms. Maxie. Well then, how do you cackle maniacally? Or have you never heard a maniacal cackle?"

"Oh, I've heard plenty," she said, "And you know it too. Here's how you do it." After she said that she cackled in a deep, raspy, and creepy voice.

"If that has anything to do with that secret I overheard you telling Ella about," I said, "You're right, that would give Stephen King nightmares."

Iggy seemed to know something and changed the subject, "Well, Maxie, you are cordially invited to Haunted Harbor. It's tomorrow at about six o'clock, don't be late." Then Iggy attempted (key word being attempted, since it was an epic fail) to imitate Max's evil cackle.

"That sucked Iggy, and I'll be there," she said, then she did her cackle.

"What are you two cackling about?" Ella asked.

"Iggy managed to snag tickets to Haunted Harbor," Max said.

"NO WAY! Nudge and I are going tomorrow night! When are you guys going?"

"Tomorrow night," Iggy and Max said in unison. Then Max decided to creep the entire hallway out with her evil cackle, which is REALLY creepy. Imagine the creepiest thing you've ever heard, now multiply that times ten. That's about a tenth as creepy as her cackle is.

After that little episode Ella pulled Max off to the side and started trying to get her to do something.

"You should so talk to him about it at Haunted Harbor,"Ella said.

"Fine," Max said, "Just remember, you are the one who got me into this, if I suffer heartbreak you better expect payback."

Ella might have been talking about me, seeing as I'm the only other guy going in our group and she has the hots for Iggy. I walked out to my car. Iggy got in on his usual side, the front. When we got home I helped with Iggy's homework. After that I walked over to Max's so we could work on our performance.

"Hello Fang," Mr. Batchelder (Max told me his name) said, "Did you need to talk to Max?"

"Yeah," I said, "We were assigned as partners for a music project. I wanted to work on it with her."

"Okay then," he said, "come on in. She's up in her room."

When I walked up I saw Max sitting at her desk working on her homework.

"What have you got left?" I asked.

"Biology, Math then English," she said.

"Okay." I sat down on the floor near her window. She got up from her seat, "I need some music," she said, "You cool with Paramore?"

"Fine with it," I said, "You were pretty lucky to perform with them."

"Yeah," she said, "I love them. They've been my favorite band since seventh grade."

Just as she was about to sit down she fell over clutching her head. She seemed like she was trying not to scream. I saw tears coming from her eyes, even though they were closed so tightly I wasn't sure if they would ever open again.

_Max POV_

I started getting strong spirit signals. It hurt my head so much. I guess I should explain. When I was younger (I heard my daddy cry, no just kidding), shortly after my dad left, I was attacked by a ghost. I know you don't believe me but it's true. I barely managed to survive, the only reason I made it out alive was because another half-ghost saved me. I am considerd half-ghost. After the attack, half of my human spirit was taken and replaced by a ghost. By the normal standards, I'm still a human. By human standards, I'm a ghost. Ever since the attack, I have been able to sense ghosts and other ones like me. People like me are called a mediator. We try to protect humans from ghosts that are violent.

Only one person knows my secret. Iggy. When we were younger, a violent ghost attacked him. He felt the pain, but didn't know what was attacking him. After I came up and got the ghost to go away, I had to tell him the truth. You see, a mediator's eyes change when he/she is controlling a ghost. We can control them in extreme cases. Our eyes go from their natural color to a creepy flourescent blue. The shade of a visible ghost. After that, Iggy and I were besties. He wasn't a mediator though, he hadn't lost any of his human soul to the ghost that attacked him.

After what was probably ten minutes, though it felt like an eternity, the pain stopped. Just like always. As my senses came back I heard singing. It sounded like Fang. As the song ended I realized how we were, me clutching my head, with my head in his lap. He started the next song.

**(Don't laugh, Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift, featuring the Civil Wars)**

_I remember tears streaming down your face_  
_When I said, "I'll never let you go"_  
_When all those shadows almost killed your light_  
_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_  
_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes_  
_The sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright_  
_No one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling,_  
_Everything's on fire_  
_The war outside our door keeps raging on_  
_Hold on to this lullaby_  
_Even when the music's gone_  
_Gone_

_Just close your eyes_  
_The sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright_  
_No one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_  
_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_  
_La La (La La)_  
_La La (La La)_  
_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_  
_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_  
_La La (La La)_

_Just close your eyes_  
_You'll be alright_  
_Come morning light,_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh. [x7]_

By the time he was done, I was able to open my eyes a little.

"Max," Fang said, "Are you okay? I was worried!"

"Yeah," I said, "I'm fine."

"Really? 'Cause when you collapsed on the floor you suggested otherwise."

"I'll be fine Fang," I said while getting up. I walked over to my instruments. I grabbed one and started playing. I got into it.

"Hey," Fang interrupted, "How about we use that talent to work on our performance? What do you say?"

"You're really annoying sometimes," I said, "You know that?"

"I do try," he said, smirking.

We worked for a while. After a while we got bored and started talking.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Fang asked.

"Yeah," I said. Honestly, what choice do I have? I am one-ish.

"Why?" he asked.

"I have my reasons."

_Fang POV_

When I asked Max why she believes in ghosts she seemed to be gaurding it. I left and went home.

"Hey Iggy," I said.

"Hey Fang," he said, "I need to talk to you."

We walked into my room, "Max might start acting... I don't know, strange I guess, at Haunted Harbor tomorrow. I just thought I should warn you. She knows a lot about ghosts. She also believes in them, and hasn't had very good experiences with some of them."

"You believe in ghosts?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "Ever since..."

"Ever since what?" I asked.

"Nevermind. I'm tired," he said. He walked out of my room and into his. I woundered what was up and why he knew Max's secret.

The next day, Max walked to school and came home with Iggy and I.

"Hey Ig," she said, "You ready for a ghost event?"

"Let's talk about this somewhere else," he said while gesturing to me.

They walked into his room. I listened from beside the door.

"What do you mean a 'ghost event'?" Iggy asked.

"I mean that more ghosts than ever have come this year. I don't know why, but they have," what? Max could sense ghosts or something? I brushed it off and went to my room. I started playing randomly. Max came over and entered. I had been in the middle of What I've Overcome **(In case you couldn't tell, I love that song)**. Iggy said good job and stuff. It was five-fifty. Nudge and Ella would be here soon. Sure enough, five minutes later, they showed up.

"OMG! MAX!" Nudge yelled, "You are NOT going in that!" Max was wearing a t-shirt and ripped up jeans.

She muttered something that sounded like, "But what if a ghost attacks me?"

"A ghost will not attack you! They aren't real anyways," Nudge said.

Max's face flashed a look of offense but it was quickly replaced by one of boredom, "You have your opinions and I have mine," she said simply.

We went to the main part of the event. A bunch of people were talking about it as though it were just some scam. It seemed like it. As we walked I noticed that Max would occasionally roll her eyes at the portrayal of a ghost. I walked down one of the back alleys. Max didn't want to come, Iggy was staying with Ella and since she and Nudge were to scared to come down, he wasn't coming with. The Haunted Harbor sets up a bunch of creepy looking alley ways that would scare most people to death but I find just amusing.

They must have tried extra hard this year because this alley really creeped me out. I continued walking and turned abruptly when I heard something.

"Where's the mediator? Not here to protect you I see," a creepy raspy voice said from behind me.

"And you're ripe for the eating," another one said.

"Fang," I heard a familiar voice behind me, "Get out of here."

I turned and saw Max, only something was different. Something about her eyes. I saw her glaring to my right. When I looked where she was glaring I saw a blue flourescent form that hadn't been there before.

"Leave him alone," Max said, just as the thing lunged at her.

She moved out of the way just as the flourescent thing would have hit her. Instead, it managed to scratch her face. She put her hand to her face. When her hand came down, there was blood. Then I got a good look at her eyes, they were a flourescent blue. She looked at an area nearby, then her eyes widened. She jumped about eight feet in the air. I looked at her astonished. She glared again. "Go. Away. Now." she said. This time, the flourescent blue thing complied.

"You'll regret this mediator," it said. I saw Max glare at the other one. It just left without her telling it to.

"What just happened?" I asked. "You just jumped eight feet in the air, your cut is turning blue, your eyes are blue. What's up?"

"This is the stuff of nightmares," she said. Her voice was low and quiet, "This is the result of a ghost's attack."

She started walking down the alley. I followed her, "What do you mean?"

"When I was younger, half of my human spirit was replaced by the spirit of a ghost," she said, "Now I'm a mediator. Only part human, only part ghost. I'm still mortal. I'll still die. But until then, I can jump higher than most and run faster. I also sense ghosts. I can control them when I have to."

"You expect me to believe this?" I asked.

"You saw what happened back there," she said, "That was only two. I wouldn't have been able to save you if there were more. I saved your brother a few years ago."

"Why didn't he tell me then?" I ask.

"Like I said," she replied, "This is the stuff of nightmares."

We walked through the rest of the alley in silence. The stuff that seriously creeped me out only seemed to make her want to laugh, but then again, if you've been attacked by a ghost, I guess you get a pretty dark sense of humor.

We were about to finish the alley and meet up with the others when Max stopped, "Fang."

"Yeah," I said.

"Does this change anything about our friendship? Me being half ghost?"

I thought about it. I did like her and I was honored she had called me her friend. I think I liked her even more now that I knew. I walked over to her, "Yeah," she seemed to turn, "But in a good way." Her face was one of relief.

Just as I was about to make a move and kiss her, Ella came over, "Come on lovebirds. Time to go."

"We aren't lovebirds," Max and I said at the same time.

"Whatever," Ella said. We all got in the car and went home. I glanced at Max. Her eyes were brown again, but they still held a tint of blue. After I walked Max home I talked to Iggy.

"Is Max really half-ghost?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "She is. Sorry I didn't tell you. She gave me a play-by-play of what happened when she became that way. I still have nightmares about it."

"Wow," I said, "That scary, huh?"

"No matter what she says, it _would _give Stephen King nightmares," he said.

I talked to Iggy about random stuff for an hour before going to sleep. As I fell asleep, I realized just how much I would have to have loved Max to not have ditched her when I found out. I couldn't believe that I was thinking this, but I loved Maximum Ride.

**Shout out time. I GOT A HUNDRED REVIEWS! I'M SO HAPPY! Thank you guys, all of the reviews mean a lot to me.**

**Chapter 8 shout-outs:  
To:**

**imaddictedtocarrots: You must feel very strongly about Jeb's need to die.**

**Dot Ride: I am sorry that Chapter 8 made you sad. I hope you enjoy what I've done.**

**Skatzaa: I absolutely KILLED myself laughing when I read this review. Very funny.**

**Chapter 9 shout-outs:  
To:**

**imaddictedtocarrots: Again, I see you feel very strongly about this.**

**maceygirl: I'm glad you like Fireflight. I'm seeing them in concert soon.**

**Elemental Dragon Slayer: Yes, he has had trouble changing his image. Though him not running from Max when he found out was a pretty big step.**

**TO ALL OF YOU WHO SAID THAT MAX SHOULD HAVE WINGS: I am sorry. I didn't see those reviews until AFTER school and during school, I was brainstorming ideas for Max's secret and came up with this. I hope this idea is just as good. Thank you all for reviewing. The hundredth reviewer was Sugarmama Griffi. He or she is a guest. **

**On a side note, my friends will likely panic when they find out that I'm reading The Stand by Stephen King. I used the analogy of Stephen King and nightmares because he writes horror. I've never read his stuff, first time ever, but I've heard he's pretty twisted.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Max POV_

_I was running home from the park. It wasn't that far. I would be home soon. I felt a searing pain in my leg. When I looked down, it was bleeding. I slowed down. I started feeling sharp bursts of pain on my arms and all over. Then a cold sensation came over my body, like I was losing myself. . I was scared. Then I saw a blue form in front of me. Instead of what actually happened, the woman never came, the ghost continued to attack. I was about to become a ghost myself. I was covered in blood and felt like there would be no end to the pain. It was sharp and stabbing at the same time. I screeched in pain._

I woke up with a start. I hadn't screamed because of that nightmare in ages, though it visited me often. I remember that day. That woman who saved me. I shook my head to clear it. I took my guitar and went out on the balcony of my room.

**(Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia. Use the cover by zeldaxlove64.)**

_You shout it out,_  
_But I can't hear a word you say_  
_I'm talking loud not saying much_  
_I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet_  
_You shoot me down, but I get up_

_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_Ricochet, you take your aim_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_

_Cut me down_  
_But it's you who have further to fall_  
_Ghost town and haunted love_  
_Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones_  
_I'm talking loud not saying much_

_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_Ricochet, you take your aim_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_I am titanium_  
_I am titanium_

_Stone-hard, machine gun_  
_Firing at the ones who run_  
_Stone-hard as bulletproof glass_

_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_I am titanium _

I just play for awhile after that. I feel everything I need to express come out and I can't stop it. I don't want to. It's to nice, to express everything I left unsaid. I keep playing until I felt the dire need to rest.

_Fang POV_

I woke up in the middle of the night to a powerful voice. I recognized it as Max's. I listened as the song ended and she continued playing. I listened. There were no lyrics, but the songs tones of sadness, anger, and happiness slowly lulled my back to sleep.

_Time Skip:  
The next day at school_

_Fang POV_

I saw Max at her locker the next day. She seemed like she had forgotten something.

"You forget something," I ask.

"Yeah," she said, "My biology textbook."

"Here," I hand her Iggy's, "It won't matter to him anyways. He'll probably be planning his next bomb."

"Fang," Iggy said from behind Max, "I hate when you infer what I'll be doing in class. I won't be planning my next bomb."

"What," I asked, "So you're actually going to pay attention?"

"No," he said, "I will be planting my latest bomb in the principal's office. It will be the mother of all stink bombs. Gazzy's farts don't even compare to the scent that I have set in this bomb."

"Crap," Max said, "Principal Ferguson is going to have a coniption. You should plant it under his desk. Then people will think that he farts worse than Gazzy. And then hand him some gas prevention pills."

"Since when do you plot Maxie?" Iggy asked, "Especially with me?"

"Since Principal Ferguson yelled at me for going home early to take care of my brother. As if that wasn't a good enough reason."

"Well then," Iggy said, "I have already planned the gas prevention pills but you gave me the excellent idea of putting it under his desk. I was going to have trouble getting it under his chair."

"I do try," Max said. She took the textbook and walked to her biology class, just as we heard a loud crashing noise from the janitor's closet.

"And that would be what gets me to Principal Ferguson," Iggy said.

"JAMES!" Ferguson shouted.

"Yes Frank?" Yeah, my brother and the principal were on a first name basis. Kind of sad.

"GET IN HERE NOW!"

"Whatever you say Frankie," Iggy said.

_Max POV_

After Iggy went to the principal's office I walked to my first class.

"Where is James?" Mrs. Jamison asked.

"In the principal's," I said.

"Of course," she said, laughing lightly. I sat down. She knew that Iggy and I often talked before first period, she also knew that I often stayed to watch Iggy's schemes. She's pretty chill about those kinds of things. And she loves to hear a play-by-play of what happened, since she doesn't usually get to see what happens.

In the middle of first period, Iggy came in with a triumphant grin on his face. He sat down next to me and passed me a note.

_He flipped. Almost flipped a table too, by the sound of it. It was hilarious. I bet he was a deep deep crimson by the time I had handed him the gas pills. And then he probably blew a gasket!_

I laughed softly. Mrs. Jamison continued with the lesson. After first period I guided Iggy to English.

"Mrs. Jamison seemed in a good mood," Iggy said.

"She probably wants to know what you did to Ferguson," I reply.

"The usual. Made him break his sharpie."

"How do you manage to get him _that _angry? The guy's pretty chill. Did he tell you what color it was, the sharpie, I mean."

"Red. Blood red," Iggy laughed. Ferguson never tells Iggy what color his sharpies are, he only lets it slip when he's ticked.

"Let me guess. He said, 'Great, now it looks like I have bloodstains all over my shirt,'. Right?" I ask.

"Yep," Iggy said, "Exactly. The guy should really stop using sharpies around me."

"I second that motion," Fang said from behind us.

"Just got out of government?" I ask.

"Yep," he said, "And now to gym."

Sadly for us, gym is on the other side of the school. Meaning we have three minutes to walk through crowded halls and get to gym on time. It could be worse though, we could have a bunch of the idiot jocks in our class. At our school, there are the smart jocks who take Honors and AP classes and then there are the stupid jocks who barely pass regular classes. Thank goodness we have more of the smart kind than the stupid kind.

After gym we had math. After math was one of my favorite things besides music, LUNCH! I split from the guys to talk to the girls.

"Hey guys," I said, "I was thinking maybe we could do a cover of The Dragonborn Comes from Skyrim." **(I've never played the game, though I want to. I've heard the song and LOVE it)**

"I'm cool with it," Ella said, "What about you three?"

"I don't really like Skyrim but I'm cool with performing the song," Nudge said.

J.J. nodded enthusiastically and Angel just said a simple 'yes.'

"Want to work on it at my place after school?" I offer. That is answered with a chorus of agreements.

After lunch Fang walked up to me, "Want to work on our music project after school?" he asked.

"I can't," I said. His was one of confusion, "I have practice with Ella, Nudge, J.J. and Angel."

"Oh," he said, "Can I watch?"

"Sure," I said, "I guess."

After classes the girls and I walked to my house, with Fang following us. When we went inside Ari raised an eyebrow and pointed to Fang. When the girls wheeled around and gasped at Fang's prescence I had to face-palm.

"You mean you didn't know he was there?" I ask.

"NO!" Ella says loudly.

"Let's just work on that arrangement," Angel says. Fang follows us up to my room.

"I have the lyrics already, I was hoping you guys would agree so I set them up. We need to decide who's singing. I have the keyboard ready but I need help with the guitar, bass, and violin."

"What about percussion?" Nudge asked.

"Well," I said, "There really isn't a need for drums, but we could use someone playing a xylophone, do you think you can handle using mine?"

"Yeah," she said, "Now let me fool with the sound of the song for a little while."

She worked on an accompaniment **(sp?) **part. I played the keyboard part for her so she could get an idea of how the keyboard accompaniment went. Ella and J.J. worked on the guitar/bass harmony while Angel played on her violin. After about half an hour we put everything together excluding the lyrics. It sounded good.

"Who's singing though?" Ella asked.

"I say it should be you, Max, J.J. and Angel," Nudge said. I had no opinion so I just nodded my head when everyone else said 'okay'.

"What song is this?" Fang asked.

"You'll find out at the Music Fest," I said, "It's a cover though, not an original."

"Okay," he said, "I'll find out eventually."

After rehearsal Fang and I worked on our project. When we were done we talked for a while. After he left I went to sleep. I knew I should study but I was tired and didn't want to study anyways. I'm always studying. It felt nice to just play music with people I know.

**And that's a wrap. I am so asking for Skyrim for Christmas. My brother says it's bad but he played Assassin's Creed and based off of the review I found on Youtube, it's just a really cool, much better version of Assassin's Creed.**


	12. Chapter 12

**This will answer your question Skatzaa.**

_Fang POV_

Max was up. She and her group played four songs I knew. Time to hear the cover.

**(The Dragonborn Comes from Skyrim. I'm using the lyrics from zeldaxlove64's cover)**

Max:  
_Our Hero, our Hero claims a warrior's heart _  
_I tell you, I tell you the Dragonborn comes _

_With a voice wielding power of ancient Nord Art _  
_Believe, believe the Dragonborn comes _

_It's an end to the evil, of all Skyrim's foes _  
_Beware, beware the Dragonborn comes _

_For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows _  
_You'll know, you'll know Dragonborn's come._

Max, Ella, J.J. and Nudge:  
_Dovahkiin Dovahkiin  
Naal ok zin los vahriin  
wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal  
ahrk fin norok paal graan  
fod nust hon zindro zaan  
Dovahkiin fah hin kogaan mu draal_

It was really nice. I knew it from some game that Iggy had played with Max a few years ago, before he went blind. I watched as they came off stage. A lot of people liked what they did. They all wore simple clothing. Nothing too flashy.

I walked up to Max after it was done. Her dad hadn't come, I was worried he would leave again. I didn't know how Max would take that.

I found Max with her mom and Ari. They were talking.

"Well I guess I'll see you later then," Max said.

"Where are you going?" I asked her when she passed.

"I have a project to work on," she said.

"Let me walk you home," I replied.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"So," I said, "That doesn't mean I can't walk you home! I live only a small distance away."

"Fine," she conceded.

As we walked home I decided to start a conversation **(Gasp!) **"So, what's this project?"

"I don't have a project. I was lieing to you. My mom just said that I could go home from the festival early. And I took her up on it," she said. We walked the rest of the way to her house.

"Come on in," she said, "If you want to."

"Are you going to haunt me if I don't?" I ask.

She glared at me like she wanted to kill me right then. "Don't joke about that kind of thing."

"Fine," I said. I put my hands up in the universal, 'Don't kill me!' gesture. She rolled her eyes. I followed her in. She grabbed a drink of water before heading to her room. I looked at some of the books on the table. I saw a few novels, but most of them were textbooks.

I heard the song from that night. I listen as she sings it again. She sounds just as good as she did that night. I walk up to her room.

She finishes up and lapses into playing. She starts singing the song again. I listen intently. I walk up behind her as she's playing. When she plays the last chord of the song I whisper in her ear, "I love you."

She jumps and glares at me, "One, you still have a little ways to go before I can believe you. Second, don't and I mean DON'T sneak up on me EVER!"

"Okay! Okay!" I say. I walk over to her keyboard. I play around for a while.

"Do you know how to play that thing?" she asks.

"Yeah, kind of," I said, "Iggy tried to teach me. I wasn't very good, but I could play a couple of chords."

"Hmm," she said, "well, I could take keyboard and you could take guitar."

I go over to her guitar. I watch as she just starts playing. She sounded good. I was almost afraid to ruin her perfect sound with my guitar playing. Somehow, I harmonize with her. We sound good. She starts singing, I am to captivated by how nice she looks to hear what she says though. Maybe I should explain, she always looks nice. The only difference? Her curtains are open and the sunlight is falling on her in such a way that she looks like a goddess. Her skin, slightly pale in the light, glows a bit. Her eyes sparkle with a joy and freedom you would never see her have in school. Her face is relaxed and calm. Her fingers glide across the keys swiftly and gracefully. And now I'm getting really mushy.

We continue playing. She stops singing at one point and it's just the harmonious music. She seems so happy. Then she starts singing again. I listen this time. I recognize the song, but the accompaniment is different. She has her own accompaniment and I'm harmonizing.

**(Candles by Hey Monday)**

_The power lines went out _  
_And I am all alone _  
_But I don't really care at all _  
_Not answering my phone _  
_All the games you played _  
_The promises you made _  
_Couldn't finish what you started _  
_Only darkness still remains _

_Lost sight _  
_Couldn't see _  
_When it was you and me _

_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_I'm beginning to see the light_  
_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_But I think I'll be alright_

_Been black and blue before _  
_There's no need to explain _  
_I am not the jaded kind _  
_Playback's such a waste _  
_You're invisible _  
_Invisible to me _  
_My wish is coming true _  
_Erase the memory of your face _

_Lost sight _  
_Couldn't see _  
_When it was you and me _

_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_I'm beginning to see the light_  
_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_But I think I'll be alright_

_One day _  
_You will wake up_  
_With nothing but "you're sorrys"_  
_And someday_  
_You will get back _  
_Everything you gave me _

_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_I'm beginning to see the light_  
_Blow the candles out _  
_Looks like a solo tonight _  
_But I think I'll be alright _

I was blown away by the talent. She seemed to love the song. She continued playing. I stopped long before her. I watched her hands move with a swiftness and grace that I had never seen.

"You're really good," I say. She stops and blushes.

I stood there for a moment shocked. She seemed to have such an easy personality when we weren't at school. I watched her intently as she got up and went to her desk. She started to look for something. She got up after she didn't find it. I spaced out for a moment. I had turned my attention away from her. I didn't see her walk over. When she did she put her arms around me awkwardly.

"I guess I can love you too," she whispers so quietly I barely hear it. I put my arms around her in return. Then she has one of those weird things where she clutches her head. I pull her closer to me and just hold her, hoping she's okay.

**And that's a wrap. That is the mushiest this story is going to get for a while. I don't like writing mushy stuff, though this wasn't to bad. I mean, I didn't gag at how mushy it was.**

**On a different note, I'm going to do a fanfic that I update weekly. It's going to be Nevermore, only I'm going to insert my own little comentary in bold parentheses, you know, to yell at characters and stuff. Just thought I'd let you know in case you were interested. I'll try to update it on Mondays. I'll let people reading it know if it changes.**

**~VampiresExplodeInLight**


	13. Chapter 13

**HI! Yeah, I decided to re-write last chapter since I didn't like how it turned out. I didn't like how the whole wings thing came out. They may or may not have wings in the future. I don't know anymore than you do. Everything I do is made up as I go. The idea of planning a story from beginning to end makes me shudder in fear. What do you know, I had to re-write chapter 13 and a lot of people think that the number 13 is bad luck!**

**Iggy: I am awesome!**

**Me: No, you're not.**

**Iggy: Yes I am! I got you to stop ranting!**

**Ari: Since neither of them want to do the disclaimer, I'll do it. VampiresExplodeInLight does not and I repeat, DOES NOT own Maximum Ride. **

**Me: I just got a really good idea. Ari and Max! I need you two for this chapter.**

**Ari:*groans***

**Max:*separates from Fang and moves from the corner where she thought we couldn't see her and Fang making out* What? What did you say?**

**Me: Just get over here.**

**Max: Oh crap.**

**Ari: Oh crap is right. We're screwed.**

**Max: Yes, yes we are.**

_Fang POV_

Max wasn't at school today. I wondered what had happened and why she had skipped out on school. When Ig and I walked home, I saw a paper said a local second-grader was killed.

_Max POV_

When I woke up, Dad was gone and Mom was in tears, for the third time in my life my dad had left to "find himself".

"Where's Dad?" Ari asked when he walked downstairs.

"The idiot left. Thought we weren't worth his time," I said. I saw a note on the door. When I read it, my suspicions were confirmed.

_To the people I called family:_

_Max- You pushed me away. YOU are the reason I left. Ari and I got on well but you couldn't accept me. I hope you are pleased with yourself. _Yep. I am pleased with myself. He didn't get in. I don't feel anything but anguish towards him.

_Valencia- You are so kind. You accepted me back twice. I'm sorry I left you a fourth time. Blame your daughter._

_Ari- You are such a good son. I wish I could stay with you. I wish I didn't feel like I was being forced out of my own home. _

"He left a note," I said. I handed it to Mom. She read it and then started crying even harder. She kept reading it over and over. I stayed home with Ari all day. He and I made chocolate-chip cookies and such. I tried to comfort him as best I could. At around noon we went for a walk.

"Hey Max," Ari said, "Can you get that newspaper over there?"

I went over and grabbed it. Then I saw the headline, _Local Second Grader Killed By Abusive Parents._ It was about a girl named Angel Carter **(If you watch the Concrete Angel music video, the girl who dies is named Angela Carter. I figured it worked perfectly for what I planned). **

"Did you know her?" I ask when I see Ari tearing up. He nods.

"She and I were best friends," he says quietly. Poor kid, his dad leaves and then he finds out that his best friend died.

"Come on," I said, "Let's go home."

On the way home Ari told me about Angela. How she would always ignore the teasing she recieved and how she didn't let anything bother her. She sounded like a little girl who had to grow up to fast and was way stronger than any girl her age should have to be.

When we got home I took Ari up to his room. He liked to sit in there and think when something bad happened. He did it all morning when he found out that Dad left.

I went downstairs, newspaper in tow. I put it in front of Mom.

"She was Ari's best friend," I said. I remember him talking about her. She could never come over though. I guess we know why.

"Oh," Mom said, "The poor boy. I hope he's not to sad."

"I'd think he has a right to be pretty upset, his dad leaves and then he finds out his best friend was killed."

When Mom finished the article I read it thoroughly. Apparently, the neighbors had heard Angela crying, but didn't pay it any mind. Now, because they thought she was just upset because she didn't get dessert or whatever, she was dead. I felt so bad for Ari. I walked upstairs. He was laying on his bed crying. I wanted to comfort him but I've seen him like this before (when his goldfish died. And then when the next goldfish died) and knew to just let it run it's course. It was how he put up with his grief. I went into my room. I started playing. As I worked on a new song dedicated to Angela I got a good idea. I texted J.J. and Angel, asking if they wanted to do a one song, secret performance for the prom.

J.J. texted back saying, "Sure. Do you have the song?"

Angel said, "Absolutely. If it's one song then it probably has a lot of meaning to it, doesn't it?"

I texted J.J. telling her I had the song ready and I texted Angel saying it did have a lot of meaning. Then the doorbell rang. I hid the song and answered, I didn't want whoever it was to figure out the plan.

When I opened the door, I saw Angel and J.J.. Fang was walking down the street so I quickly ushered them in.

_Fang POV_

When Iggy and I turned down the street I saw Angel and J.J. at Max's. When Max opened the door, she saw me and quickly ushered them in. I wondered what was going on but didn't think to long about it.

_Max POV_

The girls had finished reading the article about Angela.

"So what does this have to do with us?" J.J. asked.

"Well," I said, "She was Ari's best friend. I wrote a song dedicated to her."

"And that's what we're performing," Angel said, "Isn't it?"

"Yep," I said. We practiced for three hours. The first time we performed it, all three of us were in tears. We started to be able to perform it without crying.

**And that wraps that up. I might, MIGHT update later.**


	14. Chapter 14

**And I'm back.**

**Max: And we're all screwed.**

**Ari: She wasn't THAT bad last chapter, she could have had us at each other's throats for a few hours...**

**Max: You're not helping.**

**Ari: I know.**

**Iggy: It's not that bad.**

**Ari: Yeah, not for you, you're her imaginary boyfriend.**

**Me: At least I'm not afraid to admit it! And he's not imaginary, he's fictional.**

**Ari: What do you mean?**

**Me: I tell my friends. Then again, my insanity is never questioned.**

_Fang POV_

Max was at school the next day. I wouldn't get to meet up with her until lunch, though. Plenty of time for anyone to ask her to the dance. Yeah, I was going to ask her to the dance.

When lunch came, I didn't see Max. I decided to go to the music room. I heard three instruments. A violin, a piano, and an acoustic guitar. The lyrics are hard to hear through the door but I could tell it was a sad song. I listened to the melody and tried to make out the lyrics. When lunch was about to be over I started to walk to my class. I saw Max at her locker putting something under a set of books.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Just something for a project," she says.

"What project, why do you have to hide it?"

"No reason," she says. She starts to grab her stuff and walk to her next class.

"Hey," I say, "Since you're kind of my girlfriend I think, would you go to prom with me?"

"Okay, I am your girlfriend, I think, I'm not sure. I would go to prom, except I'm busy that night."

"What are you doing?"

"I just have plans with J.J. and Angel."

"Oh." I walk to my class. She got J.J. and Angel to miss prom for something? They aren't the girliest people in the world but I would expect them to want to go to prom. I dismiss it as nothing.

_Max POV_

I continue to my class. I have to work on hiding that better. I almost spilled to Fang! I'm his girlfriend? Ugh, I need to stop thinking about my social life and focus on classes.

After classes I headed to the music room. We warmed up with the doors closed but when we were sure that everybody was gone, we opened the door to get better acoustics. We were good kids so the teachers were cool with us using the music room. We had to get permission for the secret performance as well, so they knew what we were doing. They didn't care. We were all straight A honors and AP students.

We worked on the song for three hours. I hurried home so I could get my homework done. Prom was in three weeks. We were almost to the point where we were performing it perfect every time. We just needed to work on it some more.

"Hey Max," Ari said as I walked in, "How are you?"

"Fine buddy," I said, "How about you?"

"Fine," he said, though it was evident he wasn't. The kid's had such a hard life. Had cancer and then his dad shows up. Then his dad leaves again. Then his best friend dies. I can only imagine how much emotional pain he's going through right now. I hug him tight. He pulls away and walks down to where he has his art projects. He does a lot of crafts and such. He got talent in art and I got talent in music and we're both cool with it. He starts working on something and I leave him alone. As I'm doing my homework I get a text from Nudge.

_(Italics are Nudge and Bold is Max)_

_Hey girl, we have to get you ready for prom!_

**No thanks, Nudge. I'm busy that night.**

_Darn it, Angel and J.J. are too. _

**What about Ella?**

_We're trying to find someone to get dresses and make-up and accesories with. We don't want to just be us two. _

**Well, I'm sorry I couldn't go.**

_What have you got planned?_

**Just stuff.**

I got no reply. She didn't even comment on my vagueness or boringness. I know, those aren't real words. Just 'cause I'm in AP English doesn't mean I always focus on grammar and yadayadayada.

Anyways, after I finished my homework I went outside and started walking toward the park. I was meeting up with Angel and J.J. to work on any song editing. And let's face it, we wanted to talk about NON-girly things. We enjoyed talking with Ella and Nudge, but sometimes it was just to girly.

As I walked Fang caught up with me.

"Where ya goin'?" he asked.

"The park," I said, "I'm meeting Angel and J.J. there."

"What about Ella and Nudge?"

"They're busy. We would have band practice if they weren't obsessing over prom. Alas, that is not meant to be. Those two absolutely love the prom fascination. They are so sucked in."

"You seem to be rambling," Fang said, "Maybe because you're turning into Nudge?"

"Oh please," I said, "I'd rather half-die again than have THAT happen!"

_Fang POV_

"Oh please, I'd reather half-die again than have THAT happen," Max said.

"What do you mean half-die?" I asked.

"I'm half ghost, therefore I'm half-dead. I lost half of my life," she explained.

I nodded and left when she met up with Angel and J.J.. I stuck around nearby though, just to hear what they talked about.

"So," Max said, "I was thinking we could shift this chord here to this line and move this so it covers these two lines. What do you think?"

"That might sound okay," J.J. said. She played the section and it almost sounded like it was a sad song. I wondered what they were working on. I listened as they talked.

"So, Max," I heard Angel say as I was "reading", "I saw you walking with Fang and I heard you guys talking. Are you two dating?"

"I think," she said, "We haven't gone on an actual date but I think we would be considered a couple. I'm not really sure."

"Well good luck," J.J. said, "If he plays you we'll assist you in revenge."

"I'll be able to do that on my own," she said.

"Aww," J.J. said, "I wanted to help. Well anyways, I like this song. I say we record it and layer it and such and then we could sell it and other songs by Avian-Americans on a CD at the prom."

"We could see if Ella and Nudge want to," Max said. I heard J.J. text them.

Two minutes later she got a reply.

"They say that they can't."

I left shortly after that. As I walked home I saw Ari walking. He seemed kind of down so I tried to talk to him.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said while shaking his head. He seemed convincing but there was an underlying tone of sadness.

"What happened?" I asked. I wouldn't normally care but for some reason I felt like I should help him out. I don't know if it was because he was Max's brother or if it was because he just seemed so like a sweet kid who's life had been seriously messed up.

"It's nothing," he said, "Would you just leave me alone!"

Max came over when she heard Ari yell. He had his eyes shut and tears coming out of his eyes. She pulled him into a hug and gave me a pointed glance. I put my hands up in the universal "I didn't do anything" gesture.

"It's okay Ari," she said. She kneeled down and pulled him into a tight hug.

"No it's not," Ari said into her shoulder, "Why is life so screwed up? Why did all of this have to happen?"

I had no idea what he was talking about. I walked away because it was clear that I wasn't needed in this event. Just as I was about to turn onto my street I heard Max call out to me, "FANG!"

I went back, "What?"

"Sorry about Ari," she said, "His life is just really screwed up right now."

Ari had gone over to the park and was carving sticks with his pocket knife.

"What's up?" I ask. She looks away. When she looks back, her eyes are an emotionless pit of chocolate brown.

"It's a family matter." She walked over to where Angel and J.J. were watching. She started talking to them. I left, knowing that I shouldn't have asked and that I had gone too far.

When I got home Iggy was super angry. I had no idea why. I just tried to avoid him for the rest of the day while he just fumed. He said something about Max's dad and something else but I wasn't paying attention. I was to busy wondering what the girls were working on and what had happened to Ari that Max wasn't comfortable telling me about. I figured I would just show up at prom, make an appearance, and then leave about halfway through. I got up and went to my computer. Basically, I was just being a normal teen.

_Max POV_

The girls and I were working hard. We had almost perfected the song. Somehow, the student council was convinced to move prom to two days from tomorrow though. They didn't know that we were doing a totally anonymous performance. Only the staff of the school had been told. We were working as hard as possible to perfect the song. The plan was for us to go on about halfway through the dance, right after the second group. The teachers who were in charge of the lights would turn every single light off so we wouldn't risk being seen. After we performed, we would walk straight out the main door by going through a small walkway. The bands that performed walked through the walkway to get to and from stage. After we walked out we would sprint toward our cars and leave. We wanted it to be completely anonymous, no risk that anyone would find out. We weren't going to be dressed up for our performance, we were going to wear jeans and a t-shirt. Each one of us. Angel had made T-shirts that had the song name (Concrete Angel) written on it in large lettering.

The shirts were black with red lettering. I knew that Fang probably wouldn't be there but I didn't care. I was doing this for Ari. For him, and for the little girl. For Angela.

After I re-read the lyrics and practiced the keyboard part for the four hundredth time I finally went to sleep.

**And that would be where this chapter ends. I hope you guys like this. Who do you like better in this story, Max or Fang? Who do you think is more of a person? **

**~VampiresExplodeInLight**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again. **

**Max: SHE DOES NOT OWN ME, THE FLOCK, ARI, JEB, MY MOM, ANY OF THE MUSIC SHE USES, J.J., SAM, LISSA, BRIGID, DYLAN, but she does own the plot.**

**Iggy: *starts singing randomly***

**Me: Stop. You are worse than my brother!**

**Iggy: Well fine then. **

**Me: Fang!**

**Fang: Crap.**

**Me: Lock Iggy and the Gasman in their room. And give Gazzy a burrito.**

**Iggy: WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN BOYFRIEND!?**

**Me: You wouldn't stop singing.**

_Max POV_

This was the big night, I had walked here since I didn't live to far off. J.J., Angel and I were getting ready to sneak up onto the stage. We had fourteen seconds to do so before the lights would have to be turned back on, principal's policy. We were hiding outside of the enterance.

_Fang POV_

I was hanging out with Iggy and Ella when something outside the enterance caught my attention. It was gone before I could get a better glimpse though. Just as I was about to go out to investigate, the lights went out. I heard footsteps. The band had come down from the stage about five minutes ago. The lights stayed out as the girls (I could tell by their voices) said together, "This is a song dedicated to Angela Carter, a little girl who died recently." I couldn't recognize their voices since they said it together. I listened as the song started. It sounded like the song that Max, Angel and J.J. had been practicing.

**(Concrete Angel by Martina McBride)**

_She walks to school with the lunch she packed_  
_Nobody knows what she's holdin' back_  
_Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday_  
_She hides the bruises with linen and lace_

_The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask_  
_It's hard to see the pain behind the mask_  
_Bearing the burden of a secret storm_  
_Sometimes she wishes she was never born_

_Through the wind and the rain_  
_She stands hard as a stone_  
_In a world that she can't rise above_  
_But her dreams give her wings_  
_And she flies to a place where she's loved_  
_Concrete angel_

_Somebody cries in the middle of the night_  
_The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights_  
_A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate_  
_When morning comes it'll be too late_

_Through the wind and the rain_  
_She stands hard as a stone_  
_In a world that she can't rise above_  
_But her dreams give her wings_  
_And she flies to a place where she's loved_  
_Concrete angel_

_A statue stands in a shaded place_  
_An angel girl with an upturned face_  
_A name is written on a polished rock_  
_A broken heart that the world forgot_

_Through the wind and the rain_  
_She stands hard as a stone_  
_In a world that she can't rise above_  
_But her dreams give her wings_  
_And she flies to a place where she's loved_  
_Concrete angel_

After the song finished there was a lot of people crying. Everyone had known about the girl. I saw the girls who performed running out. I felt a tear on my own face. That song was really sad. I left and saw Max, J.J., and Angel.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. They had said they had plans tonight.

"Um," J.J. said, "trying to put on a very moving, anonymous performance."

"Why?" I asked.

J.J. and Angel had already gotten to far away to hear me. I was keeping pace with Max. She looked at me.

"She was Ari's best friend," she said.

I realized why Ari had been so upset the other day, his best friend had died. He had cancer, his best friend died, what else could happen to this kid?

"Just don't pursue it anymore, okay," Max said quietly. Suddenly I was afraid that the tough girl I had fallen so hard for was about to crumble.

"Are you okay?" I ask gently.

"No," she admits. I never thought Max would admit that she wasn't okay. Then I saw tears. I pulled her into a tight hug.

She cried quietly, not wanting to make to much noise. I just let her cry. I couldn't stand to see her like this though, I didn't want her to be hurting. Especially if I didn't know what was hurting her.

"What's wrong?" I ask quietly.

"Life's screwed up," she says, "Ari gets cancer, and then his dad comes back, only to leave later. And the same day that his dad leaves, he found out that Angela died. The kid can't catch a break and I can't stand it."

There was something else, but I wasn't going to pursue the answers tonight. Not while she was like this. Not when she was at her weakest. I finished walking her home. She was quiet the whole way back. When we were on her front porch she turned to me, "Thanks," she said, "For... everything."

I pull her into another hug. I tilt her head up and our lips meet. The kiss is gentle. I let go and she walks inside. I may not have taken her to prom, but I learned a lot more about her than I would if she and I had been at the dance together. When I walked into the house, Iggy was there, with Ella.

"What happened? Where did you go?" Iggy asked.

"I just wanted to know who had been singing," I say nothing about the kiss, not wanting him to know for some reason.

He pesters me and gets nothing.

Eventually he left me alone, and I was confused as to how I felt about the kiss. I was confused. As I fell asleep I realized that it was love, pure and true.

_Max POV_

I go straight to my room when I get home. I can't believe I kissed Fang. I just went to my keyboard and played for an hour. I couldn't let that one emotion out right though, something that was like love and... I don't know what else there was but it was there. It was some emotion I couldn't place.

_It's just love, pure and true. _The Voice said. Yeah, being half ghost gives you a Voice. Luckily, this one didn't bug me too often, only when I was REALLY confused, and I mean so confused that not even music helps. I lay down on my bed, thinking about this new revelation. This new knowledge. I had known that I loved Fang, but not as much as I now realized. I was mulling this over a little bit when Ari came in. He just sat on my bed and listened as I played for him.

"Max," he said, "Can you play something for Angela?"

Ari didn't know I was half ghost, neither did Mom. Only Fang and Iggy knew. "Sure buddy," I said.

"Before you do," he said, "Do you think she's watching us?"

"I'm sure she is," I said. Truth is, Angela's ghost had been staying near Ari, protecting him from other ghosts. He was considered her territory, he couldn't be attacked by any ghost unless she granted permission.

I replayed Concrete Angel. He fell asleep before I even started singing though, so I didn't sing. I just took him to his room. When I got back to my room I went straight to sleep.

**Yay! Two updates in one day! Maybe I can get a third in! **


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm back. And if you're mad at me for starting The Streets are our Home, don't kill me. I couldn't think of anything to do for other stories so I had to publish THAT story. I hope you like this chapter.**

_Fang POV_

Max was nervous the entire day. As we were walking to my house for band practice (after the graded thing, I joined the Avian Americans, so did Iggy) with the gang (including Gazzy, who was sticking with his sister) she fell backwards. Everyone was worried if she was alright but she just brushed it off. I could see the strong worry in her eyes though. As we continued walking, I felt like something was stalking me. I looked and saw nothing. We were almost to our house when Max started focusing about fifteen feet in front of us. I saw one of those flourescent figures and immediately thought _GHOST!_

"What's that?" Angel asked.

"That's a ghost," Max said, deadly calm. Suddenly, it lunged for me. I felt it start choking me.

_"I will finish what I started at the Haunted Harbor, boy!" _It's raspy, whisper-like voice said. Max shoved it off. It could touch me but I couldn't touch it, which was strange. What was stranger is that Max could touch it.

"Leave him be," she said. The ghost didn't listen, instead, it just lunged for her. She had a long scratch across her torso from it.

She gasped and glared hard, "Leave. Us. Alone."

It didn't work though. The ghost started to get closer to me. It tried to choke me before Max pushed it off. It started to become a full on brawl after that. I couldn't see the ghost at times and the others were dumbstruck. They watched Max's careful manuveurs. They watched her careful eye-flicks. They watched as she got scratch after scratch and blow after blow. Iggy eventually stepped in front of her. Not being able to see a thing didn't stop him from being precise. He recieved a hard blow. They both fell over. Max hissed something into Iggy's ear, and then they both went limp.

"NO!" I yelled. I had lost the two people I cared most about. The others were silently crying. The ghost went over and was satisfied that they had died. We stood there a few moments, praying they were faking it. But as a whole five minutes passed, we had to accept it, they were dead. Just as we turned, I saw Max helping Iggy up.

"You were faking it?" I asked.

"We weren't sure if the ghost was still here. Good to see all of you are in good shape," Max said.

"What was that?" Ella asked.

"None of your business," Max said. She quickly changed the subject towards her hatred of sparkly vampires **(I really do hate sparkly vampires.) **

With the incident forgotten, we managed to get through an entire band practice, a feat I didn't think was possible for anyone but the girls. I saw Ari in the back of the room watching. He seemed to be upset about Angela still. I guess I can't blame him, she was his best friend.

After band practice, the others left. I stayed to talk to Max.

"So," I said, "Why couldn't you control that ghost?"

"It was immune. After a while, a ghost can become immune to a mediator's influence. I had to fight him. When Iggy got us both knocked over, it was an opportunity," she said. She had a sad look to her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think I lost a little more of my human soul, I tried to absorb some of the impact Iggy took. He didn't lose any soul, but I think I may have lost a little bit more."

I couldn't find a way to comfort her. I mean, how do you comfort someone who's lost part of their soul and is able to see and control ghosts? She walked up to her room and started her homework. I stayed and kept her company while she worked.

"Thanks," she said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For accepting it. For not pushing me away like I was a freak. That happened in the last town. That's why I had to leave my teacher."

"Teacher?"

"The person who taught me all I know about ghost controlling, ghosts and absorbing blows for others. She and I were close friends. Someone found out about me being part ghost and I moved here. Mom didn't know why they thought I was a freak, but she didn't care. Shortly later, I met Iggy and saved him."

"Wow," I said, "So you know another mediator?"

"Yeah," she responded, "Her name was Natalie. She was really nice. She nad I got along really well. I still keep in touch with her, but she can't teach me anymore."

She and I talked for a while. I learned a lot about her. Stuff she would never tell anyone else.

**And that will be where I end. Thanks for reading**

**~VampiresExplodeInLight.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, I was planning something cool for this story. Option 1) Fang and Max get stuck in a ghost fight, Max dies, but she gaurds Fang for the rest of his life and then they eventually meet as ghosts. Or Option 2) Something I make up on a whim.**

_Fang POV _**(I don't know why, but I find it easier to write in this POV)**

As I passed Max's, I saw her come out limping.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Yesterday happened," she said.

I responded by helping her. I couldn't do much, I didn't want to re-open any wounds. Suddenly, one of her random brain attacks.

"What's wrong with her?" Lissa asked. She didn't seem to concerned, just a little.

"She got hurt or something," I lied, "She must have hit her head or something, maybe last night."

"Oh," Lissa kept walking. I picked Max up bridal style and took her back to my house. My parents were out (of course, they do work you know) and Iggy was home "sick".

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Why do I hear someone muttering?"

"It's Max," I said, "She had one of her spirit signal things. She just fell over and grabbed her head."

"Bring her here," Iggy said. He pulled out a bullhorn, "WAKE UP! YOU DON'T NEED TO PAY ATTENTION! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

"What the heck Ig," she said as she regained human concsiousness, "You didn't have to yell THAT loud, or in my ear for that matter."

"Maybe we should all stay home today?" I offer. I don't feel like an hour of Mrs. Grim (ha, ain't that the truth) lecturing us about nouns. Or pronouns. Or adverbs. Or adjectives. Or verbs. Or prepositions. Or commas. Okay, you get the point, I don't like Mrs. Grim.

"Sure," Max said immediately, "I shouldn't go to school with so many ghosts coming."

"Max," Iggy said, "Are you sure you're alright? That hit from the ghost should have been a soul blow, right? Why didn't I lose _my _soul?"

"Because," she said, "I did the job of a mediator. I took the blow."

"How much?" Iggy asked.

"Based on what happened last night," she started.

"Wait," I interrupted, "What happened last night?"

"I got telekinesis. And a few other abilities. But I'd say a good twenty five percent."

"You gave up twenty-five percent of your human soul for me?" Iggy fumed, "You shouldn't have! Anything would be better than the guilt that you saved me TWICE!"

"Iggy," Max said, "It's my JOB to take the blows and save you! I don't have a choice! If I hadn't done that, I would have lost the rest of my human soul. I still have twenty-five percent!"

"What else happened?" Iggy asked, "Anything major?"

"What do you mean what else happened?" I asked.

"As one becomes more and more ghost and less and less human they gain powers and/or mutations," Max explained, "I only got telekinesis and wings out of the deal but it's better than some things."

"Wait Max," I said, "you said you got, wings?"

"Yeah," she said, "I can hide those at least. Look at it this way, I could have become Medusa reborn."

"Okay," I said, "Then wings are definitely a plus."

As we talked for a while, Max decided to let her wings out a bit. They were like a hawks; brown at the top, but fading to white at the bottom. On the bottom there were also black and white speckles. They looked right on her somehow, like she was who she should have been all her life.

"Often times," Max continued, "The additions reflect who the mediator is as a person. So, apparently I had the spirit of a bird and was supposed to be telekinetic."

We all remained silent for a while until I got hit in the head with something. Then Max burst out laughing and then brought the object, which turned out to be Iggy's journal, into her hand. She gave me a look that said, _should I read it?_

After I nod, she opens the journal.

**DUN DUN DUN! I hope you liked it.**


	18. Chapter 18

**And I'm back! Here's the new chapter. Great news, I GOT STRAIGHT A'S!**

_Iggy POV_

Something hit Fang but I didn't laugh. I heard the rustling of pages.

"Dear Journal," I heard Max say. Oh crap.

_Fang POV_

I listened as Max read from Iggy's journal. With him sitting right there, paler than a ghost.

_Dear Journal,_

_I have a seriously twisted mind. I had a dream that Max and Fang were kissing and then they were both killed by a ghost. Then Shakespeare showed up and he was all like, "Thou art stupid," and stuff. Like I didn't already know that. _

_Then, when all that was done, a purple sparkly unicorn came out. But the sparkles were caused by Edward Cullen from Twilight, so I grabbed a wooden stake and plunged his heart, BUT HE DIDN'T DIE! And then, he bit me. I SPARKLED! _

_I shudder just remembering. Anyways, I somehow managed to wake up WITHOUT screaming. I have dreams where I try to kill Cullen but fail and become a sparkly thing myself. I hate them. And I always tick Fang off by waking him up when I scream. _

_Well, I'm glad there's no way either of them will ever read this. I hide it (usually)._

I was starting to tear up from laughing so hard. Max had to stop reading and Iggy was up and banging his head against a wall repeatedly. Every entry that Max read was funnier than the last one. We ended up falling over from laughing so hard several times. I wouldn't be surprised if Iggy had a concussion though, he had hit his head on the wall so many times.

Max stopped reading all of a sudden. Her eyes turned milky white. She fell backwards. When I looked closely, I saw something in front of her, a wavering of the air. I felt a sharp blow to my chest. As my world went black, I saw Max stagger up, and something shoot from her hand.

**Max developed a new power AND something cool happened to Fang. Teehee. You have to wait until tomorrow!**


	19. Chapter 19

_Max POV_

I staggered up, hurting all over. I had lost more soul, and was slowly losing the rest. Somehow though, I managed to control my quantity for a split second. It skyrocketed back to fifty-fifty. I let instinct take over and shot something that was bright white at the ghost.

_A spirit-beam, _a voice said, _It's a spirit beam. You're able to put spirit barriers up. You can protect people or places by simply shooting that spirit-beam. You must wield it wisely. It will drain you quickly._

I had gotten used to voices in my head (as sad as that is) helping me out. Usually, they were ghostst that were being helpful. I looked and saw Iggy crouching behind the couch. I saw Fang, a crumpled heap, nearby. He was unconcsious, and not dead, thank goodness. Somehow, I could sense that he was losing soul energy. I quickly focused and managed to stop the leaking of soul. I took him up to his room (as hard as that was) and laid him down. After that, I went to get some sugar. Sugar always helps a mediator who's been attacked. Now Fang was a mediator. When I got up to his room, he was barely stirring. I dropped the sugar into his mouth. The first few grains dissolved on his breath, but the rest went into his mouth. He woke with a start, just when I collapsed from exhaustion.

_Fang POV_

I became concsious, but couldn't open my eyes because of the intense pain I felt somewhere deep inside of my body that I didn't even know could hurt. I felt something spill into my mouth and tasted sugar. I shot up, surprised by the sugar, when I felt someone fall over and land behind me. I turned and saw Max. She looked utterly exhausted. I picked her up and laid her on my bed. I walked downstairs, only to see a ghost sitting there.

"Hello," it said.

"Hey," I said cautiously.

"I knew you were another mediator. That girl up there is nice, I talk to her sometimes," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You might want to get some sugar, it'll help her. You saw what it did to you? Well she's got it ten times worse. She had to overpower, shoot her first spirit-beam and stop your soul leak. That's a lot for any junior mediator."

I grabbed some sugar and turned to the ghost, "How do you know all of this?"

"I'm a ghost. I learned over time."

"What's overpowering?"

"It's when a mediator has something that makes them want to stay here or they're in a life or death situation. They manage to gain control of their spirit levels long enough to restore them to the levels they were at when they first became a mediator. I've heard it's really exhausting."

"Oh," I said. I walked up to see Max laying exactly how I left her. She seemed so peaceful. I poured the sugar into her mouth and watched in awe as the first few crystals dissolved on her breath. Her eyes opened a small bit.

"Fang?" her voice was small and weak. I hated to see her like this.

"Yeah," I said softly, hoping there was a way to cheer her up.

"You're a mediator now," she said quietly, "I need to teach you. If I don't, you might get hurt."

"Not right now," I said, "You're to injured."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. She laid there calmly. She started to drift back off.

**And that will be where I end. For Dot Ride, no, she will not die.**

**What would you guys say to me taking the whole ghost/mediator/spirit thing and writing an original fiction for it? Not on FictionPress, as in, trying to get published. If not I'll just come up with some other supernatural storyline.**

**~VampiresExplodeInLight**


	20. Chapter 20

_Max POV_

When I woke up, I could sense a mediator in the room, I also heard music. I tried to sit up, but came crashing down again because of a massive headache.

"Max," I heard, before my world went black again that is.

_Fang POV_

I saw a small shift on the bed, Max sat up, only to crash back down. I went over to her. She was unconcsious again. I walked over to my desk aggravated. She had some kind of weird thing that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. Suddenly, a skull-splitting headache erupted in my head. I was on the ground clutching my head when I came back to reality. Now I knew how Max felt. I saw her still laying there, clutching her head like I was. I went to the guest room for the night, leaving Max to have my bed. When I woke up I went in to check on her. She had just gotten up.

"Sorry about passing out on you last night," she said, "It was really rough. I overpowered and then had a bunch of stuff happen, and yeah."

"It's okay," I said, "I know what you're skull attacks are like now."

"You're first one's always the easiest one to go through. As your senses become more attuned, the 'attacks' as you call them get worse."

I went over to the nearest wall and hit my head. I couldn't believe it. I had more of these things to look forward to, and oh, guess what! They were gonna get worse. Now I feel like Nudge. Okay, back to manliness.

"It's not that bad, at least you know when a ghost is coming after you," she said, "Poor Iggy didn't realize he had a paranormal stalker a few years ago. That cost him."

"Yeah," I said, "It cost him his trust in humans when it came to paranormal stuff."

"By the way, ghosts are the only paranormal thing that exist. Werewolves, Vampires, etc., they're just names for violent ghosts. People would get attacked and then be able to see the thing and didn't think it was a ghost because, you know, the original perception was that ghosts looked like the person who they were when they were alive. Sadly for them, ghosts become what they are, flourescent blue forms that can speak and do things. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," I said. I watched as she got up. She flinched for a second and then seemed to regain her composure. Just as she did that though, she collapsed from a headache thing. Just as I got to her, one hit me. These things sure do get annoying. I blacked out from this for the first time.

_Max POV_

I regained concsiousness and saw that I was next to Fang. I sat up and almost crashed down from the pain. I managed to stand and brush myself off. I checked the time, two-thirty. We had missed school again. Dang. When I walked downstairs, I found a note from Iggy.

_Hey Max,_

_You're mom thinks you were at my house helping out since I was sick yesterday. She also thinks that you stayed because you were up really late. I didn't tell her about the ghost stuff. Good luck when you do tell her, if you tell her. _

_The Iginator._

I need to talk to Iggy about the nicknames he gives himself. They just don't work. He has the stupidest ideas of a good nickname. I went upstairs and found Fang getting up.

"Did you see the time?" he asked.

"Yeah," I sighed, "But, you will be making up that lost learning time in a few short minutes."

"How?"

"I need to teach you!"

I dragged him out to the woods behind the park and started teaching him. He grasped the concepts quickly, and seemed to master the only power we knew of, his invisibility. We went back to my house and practiced the parts that we would need to practice for the band performance. Ella and Nudge were getting strict about our practicing habits.

After Fang left, Mom asked me about what happened. I decided to tell her from the beginning about being a mediator.

"I don't believe you Maximum," she said sadly, "I knew AP classes were stressful, but not this stressful."

I decided to prove it to her. I focused on a ghost in the corner. She saw the flourescent blue figure form and was scared.

"Don't worry," I said, "It won't hurt you. It's not violent."

"Maximum, stop pulling this stunt. Until you can prove to me you're part ghost I won't buy a single word of it."

I tried convincing her with telekinesis. That didn't work. Then I had to resort to spirit beams. She was freaked, but accepted it.

"This is why I never told you," I said, "Because of the reaction I was likely to get. Now you think I'm a freak don't you?"

"Kind of," she said, "I know that as a parent I shouldn't say that, but you would be more hurt if I lied."

"And that's not even the beginning," I mumbled, letting my wings loose a bit. She jumped back **(FYI, Dr. M isn't Max's mom. Her mom may be a veterinarian, but she's not Dr. M) **and looked at me sadly.

"You should go," she said, "You don't belong here. I don't want you frightening Ari."

"Oh," I said, "So now all of that 'family is forever' stuff you preached doesn't matter? Just because I have _wings?_ Or is it because I'm part ghost? Or is it the strange powers?"

"All of it," she said, "I don't need Ari frightened and I don't want you hurting him because of your... abilities."

"I would never hurt him! He has a ghost protecting him anyways! I couldn't use any of my 'abilities' on him if I wanted to!"

"Who's protecting him?"

"Angela Carter."

"She's dead."

"Her ghost stays by Ari all the time. If you don't believe me then you never will. And to think I thought you would always be there for me."

I stormed off and grabbed my stuff (read: The stuff I would need to survive as a mediator and some clothes). As I walked out, Fang saw me.

"Where are you going?"

"My mom found out about the whole mediator thing and kicked me out," I said, "There goes all hope of a normal life."

"Do you need a place to stay?" he asked.

"I'll find a way to make things work," I said, "I need to just find a nice area of woods where I can practice some of my new abilities and hopefully not be attacked by ghosts."

"Stay here for a while," Fang said, "My mom found out pretty quickly, I still haven't mastered my invisibility."

"I couldn't," I said, "I'll be okay."

"Max," he said. Just as I was about to interrupt I felt a searing pain in my skull.

**And that will be where I cut off.**


	21. Chapter 21

_Fang POV_

As Max was about to interrupt me, she fell over. I didn't sense any spirits so I didn't know what was going on.

"Fang," Mom shouted, "We need to get her to the hospital!"

As we drove to the hospital, Max's body started to glow a light blue. A light _flourescent _blue. Her eyes fly open and meet mine. She then cringes. When I look, I see that the glow has reduced. She seems to be fighting it, whatever it is. I see her eyes are going blue. Almost the entire eye is blue. She then shudders, and her hair changes, and so do her eyes. Her eyes are flourescent blue and her hair, her hair is a beautiful silvery brown, like a wolf's fur. She lays there shuddering. Whatever happened, was either traumatizing, or painful. Her breaths slowed from the fast pace they were earlier, her eyes opened again. Slowly, she was able to sit up.

"Max, honey," Mom said, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said, "I am."

I heard her mutter something under her breath but didn't think much of it. My mom turned around. She's just cool like that.

"If you need anything, just say the word," Mom said, "You know I'll be here for you."

"Yeah, unlike my mom," she muttered.

"So you'll stay with us," Iggy interjected.

"Curse your superhearing, and yes," she said, "If you still want me."

"Of course we do," Mom said, "I love paranormal stuff. And you're both of my sons best friends. And one's girlfriend."

Max blushed a bright scarlet, "So Max," Iggy said, "What was that? You just, like, passed out on us."

"My overpower was failing. It was faulty. I should have known, it didn't change my appearance."

"What do you mean?"

"An overpower changes your appearance. They rarely work, it's really dangerous to overpower. But then again, when you're a mediator, what isn't?"

"Nothing isn't dangerous," I said, "That's just life."

"Or partially," Max retorted.

"Yeah, like being part ghost makes you any less human," I said, "Just less realistic."

"No, you're still realistic, just paranoid."

"Yeah," I said, giving her a weird glance, "Like that's anymore normal."

"Actually it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's paranoid about finals!"

"True dat sister," Iggy said from up front. We arrived back home shortly later. When we walked in, I saw a ghost standing there.

"Who is that?" Max asked, "Can you tell?"

"No," I said. She closed her eyes and let her voice become ghost like.

"Who are you?"

"Nadia," the ghost replied, "I am of no danger."

She wasn't dangerous. Meanwhile, Mom and Iggy were staring at her like a creep.

"What was that?" they asked.

"She made her voice like a ghost's. They communicate better or something when you ask it like them."

"No," Max corrected me, "A ghost is more likely to respond if they think you speak like them. They don't hear human voices, only ghost voices. Unless a mediator has their gaze fixed on them, then they hear you. It's like those speakers at rock concerts but ten times louder."

"Ow, and how do you know this?"

"I hear it every time I try to control a ghost," she said, "And you will too."

"Great," I said with sarcasm. Mom and Iggy had gone into the kitchen to make dinner. Max and I were just talking in the living room. I tossed her one of our Xbox controllers and turned on Call of Duty.

"Do you want to be beaten into oblivion?" she asked.

"You alwasy go up against a blind guy," I said, even though Iggy's the COD master, "I'm not blind."

"Yeah, and I always beat said blind guy," she said.

When we started, I had the upperhand. Then, the weirdest thing happened, A GIRL BEAT ME IN COD! She just turned the game around with one kill. One kill and then she was going all over the map and constantly killing me.

"How did you do that?" I ask.

I paid attention to your tactics. After understanding them, and swatching **(screen-watching) **I managed to dodge all of your attacks and kill you."

"No more swatching," I said. We played another round and I paid attention, she didn's swatch once, and she still beat me. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was impossible for anyone (except Iggy), especially a girl, to beat me at COD!

When dinner was ready we walked up. I had a nice view of her silver-brown hair. It was stick straight and her wings were similar to what they were before, but with silver in them. Mom saw the wings and her eyes widened. She touched them gently.

"They're so beautiful," she said.

"Thanks," Max said. She came over and sat next to me when it was FINALLY time to eat.

**Did you like it? What about Max's new appearance?**

**~VampiresExplodeInLight**


	22. Chapter 22

_Max POV_

Someone kill me now. I don't want to have all of the attention focused on me. Urgh, curse being part ghost.

"So," Fang's mom said, "What are you supposed to do as a mediator?"

"Keep humans safe from ghosts and not call attention to yourself. Or, in short, the impossible," I said.

"It can't be that hard," his mom said. I just shrugged my jacket off, which allowed all of the scars from fighting ghosts to show. His mom gasped and felt one of the deeper scars. They were all pretty gruesome, but there was a long one that was still fresh from a fight the other day. Not all of my fights are witnessed, and this one was by far the worst one I've ever been in. There were three ghosts that all had a burning hatred for mediators. Not good. I put my jacket back on as Iggy started an awkward conversation.

After dinner finished, I walked up to the guest room, which was now my room. Fang had followed me up and stopped in the doorway.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just wondering how you got that really long scar. You couldn't have been fighting recently, you said you would tell me."

"Maybe it was to dangerous of a fight," I murmur, barely audible to even myself, though Fang being Fang, he picks up on it.

"Too dangerous? I'm not a little kid. I'm not even a completely amatuer mediator! You can't be trying to protect me every five seconds!"

"You haven't been taught anything," I said, "Therefore you are amatuer. Being in a fight or two doesn't make you any less amatuer-esque. You need to be taught the fine points of being a mediator before you can even consider yourself anything more than amatuer."

He and I argued about it quietly. I was seething, eyes closed, when I sensed a ghost nearby. My eyes shot open and I immediately was met with Fang's raging face. He scowled at me.

"What are you looking at me for? I doubt I'm good enough for you," he said. Just as a searing pain erupted in my neck, his eyes widened. I turned and saw a ghost, but this one was already backing down. I don't know why, but it was. I walked to it and it continued to back down. I was able to get it to leave completely. The side of my neck was still bleeding, but I could feel the glow on it and the scarring. That was relatively new, usually I don't feel the glow or the scarring.

I turned to face Fang, but he wasn't there. I jumped as something's arms wrapped around me. Scratch that, _someone's _arms. I looked up and saw Fang.

"You're right," he said in a totally un-Fang-like way, "I shouldn't be trying to get into all of these fights. You have more experience and you know more."

I looked up at him like he was derranged. He laughed and added, "Okay, maybe you aren't and I was just trying to scare the crap out of you."

"That's what you were doing?" I ask sarcastically, "I thought you had just hit your head hard enough to actually get some common sense! Idiot."

He and I bickered until his mom told us to go to bed. When he walked out, he chucked a piece of paper onto the ground. I rolled my eyes and set it on my suitcase, deciding to look at it in the morning.

**And that's a wrap. Now to watch Death Note.**


	23. Chapter 23

_Fang POV_

I walked out of Max's room while chucking a note to her. I didn't know how to say it to her, so I gave her a link where everything was written out on the paper. Hopefully she looks at it.

_Max POV_

When I woke up, I remembered the paper. When I looked at it, I found a link to a blog. I pulled up the blog and found the first entry it said to read. It was from four months ago. A little while before Fang and I got together.

_Hey guys,_

_It's Fang. I'm just sayin', I think I found the girl of my dreams. You all know that I tend to play girls, I mean that's what I do. Well, she just ISN'T playable. She doesn't let anyone she doesn't trust near her. Trust me, I've tried everything. She just pretends like I don't exist. *headdesk* _

_Anyways, I hope to either a) become her friend or b) just get to know her a little better. _

_There is one thing on my side... my brother is her best friend._

_ ~Fly on, Fang _

The next one and the last one he wrote for me to look at were both of him saying that he liked me, and then loved me. I was stunned. He walked in to see me on the computer with the paper in my hand. He came up behind me and started typing. His arms were around me as he worked, he logged onto the blogging site and then typed something. I looked at it after he posted it. I was so shocked that I was almost unaware of him pulling me closer to him and then kissing my forehead. Keyword there being almost.


	24. SEMI IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

**_HEY! HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU! The person who's about to skip this, LOOK HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I SEND MY JB CLONE THAT I HAVE FOR EXECUTIONARY PURPOSES AFTER YOU!_**

**I'm glad I have your attention. Now, what I needed to tell you is that my friend in real life (Maximum Ride2424 on here) wrote a story that I helped out with a bit. Now, this story should be HILARIOUS. Let's just say that Fang gets some Valium. And says some pretty embarassing stuff. It will be multiple chapters, but I'm not sure JUST how long. Anyways, THANKS FOR LOOKING!**


	25. Chapter 25:CHAPTER! NOT AN AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Okay, that last author's note thing was a promise to a friend. I said I would mention it, and then I had writer's block and posted that. This is to make up for that and I will HOPEFULLY have another chapter up soon. Sorry about that, but I will TRY to update more frequently. School makes that really hard, because I'm in advanced classes. That's not the biggest problem though, I have discovered the magic of (SilenceIsInfinite, get ready for this) THE LEGENDS OF ZELDA! I love it. I've been spending a lot of time playing it. I got it Saturday and have clocked sixteen hours. How sad. ANYWAYS! I got this idea while looking at the last chapter AND listening to We The Kings.**

**Fang POV  
**

I walked in to see Max reading the blog. She must have gone straight to bed last night. As I stood there watching her, I got an idea. I walked up behind her and put my arms around her while logging on to the site. Then I started typing:

_Hey,_

_You know it's Fang. I'm typing this with Max right in front of me. If you had to describe the best girl for you, you would probably give a vivid description of some beautiful girl that you figured you would never get. If I had to describe the best girl for me, it would only take one word._

_Max._

_She is amazing at everything, and she cares about stuff. Her brother was in pain, and she did everything she could to help him. She aces everything in school and can fight like nobody's business. _

_Fly on,_

_ ~Fang_

I don't know if Max knew, but she had tears going down her face, tears of joy and shock. I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Suddenly, she stood up and clutched me close to her. I put my arms around her awkwardly, since I didn't know what else to do.

"Are you okay Max?"

She nodded into my shirt and pulled me closer.

"Are you sure?"

Again she nods. She clutches me to her like there's no tomorrow and I feel her tears start to soak my shirt. Then she pulls away and looks down.

"Sorry," she says, "I just... I couldn't... It's only..."

"You don't have to say it, I think I know."

She looks up at me and our eyes meet, her's full of love, and mine returning that love.

**Sorry... I'm really tired so it probably sucks. When I say I'm tired I mean to the point where I'm hyper-tired. Which is one of the BIGGEST oxymorons in the history of oxymorons. Anyways, I better get to bed before Yo-Yo Ma puts me to sleep at the computer.**


	26. Chapter 26: Angel, Lady A and Max

**Okay, this is probably one of the last chapters of this story. I will have another couple of chapters for it, but I do want to write some MORE stories. Involving L from Death Note, Momo from Shinigami no Ballad, Max from Maximum Ride, and maybe even Ichigo from Bleach (yay anime!) And I'm going to introduce Angel in this chapter, she's like Max in the sense that she's a super nerd.**

_Max POV_

The day after the whole Fang typing incident, I was called to the front office. I don't know why, but it can't be good.

"Hey Max," the secretary said, "You weren't at school for an entire week, which is truance unless you were sick or injured. Were you sick or injured?"

"Yes," I said.

"Can you prove this?"

"Yes."

"Okay then," she said, "Will you show me your proof?"

"No."

"Then I'm afraid you have a week of detention. You won't be going to Juvenile Detention, as it's only your first offense, but you will if it happens again."

"Alright."

That secretary has had it out for me since she started this year. The other secretary was really sweet, and she didn't TRY to put students in JD. Oh well.

As I passed Mrs. Ginave's English room, I heard something. When I looked in, there was Dylan making out with Lissa. How appropriate. Now they'll break each other's hearts.

_Fang POV_

Max had been called to the office, which can't be good. About half an hour later, she returned. As she sat down, the teacher glared at her.

"Maximum," he started, "What is the..." and he proceeded to ask her a question about whatever Calculus thing we had just learned. Am I the only one who doesn't understand a word of this?

"45.76," Max answered him in about five minutes. Her math was exactly correct, but the teacher looked like he was going to keep testing her until she failed to answer. Baka.

Just as he started his fifth question, the bell rang. Max was out of there quicker than the kids at the front row. And we sat in the back.

I caught up with her and then realized why she was so quick to leave, it was lunch time. She came out of the lunch line and sat with a new girl whom I had never seen. I walked over and sat with them, wondering what was happening.

"Oh," Max said, "I know how you feel, my brother had cancer too. He made it through, but it was hard."

"I can't lose him. Not Gazzy. He's not just my brother, he's my twin."

"It's okay," Max said, "Come on, I don't normally do this, but let's ditch."

I watched as she and the girl snuck out of the school, and knew that the girl and Max were going to be really close.

_Angel POV_

"Thanks for ditching with me Max," I said, "I can't tell you how much it means to me that someone cares."

"Doesn't your mom?"

"She does, but she's in such a state of shock and denial, sometimes it's like she's not even there."

"Oh," she said, "My mom wasn't like that, but she was always stresssed."

"Yeah, that's understandable," I said, "Come on, how about we do something fun."

I took Max inside, knowing Mom wouldn't care. When we got to my room, she immediately noticed the guitars.

"You play?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like Lady Antebellum?"

"Love them."

"Even better."

She pulled me over to the guitars. I grabbed the light pink one, which was mine, and Max grabbed the dark green one, which was Gazzy's. We started playing an acoustic version of Need You Now.

**(Need You Now by Lady A; italics are Angel, Bold is Max, both would be underlined)**

_Picture perfect memories,  
__Scattered all around the floor_  
_Reaching for the phone  
'Cause I can't fight it anymore_  
_And I wonder if I ever cross your mind_  
_For me it happens all the time_

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now  
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now  
And I don't know how I can do without  
I just need you now

**Another shot of whiskey,  
Can't stop looking at the door**  
**Wishing you'd come sweeping  
****In the way you did before**  
**And I wonder if I ever cross your mind**  
**For me it happens all the time  
**  
It's a quarter after one,  
I'm a little drunk and I need you now  
Said I wouldn't call  
But I've lost all control and I need you now  
And I don't know how I can do without  
I just need you now

Woah, woah  
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all

_It's a quarter after one,  
I'm all alone and I need you now_  
**And I said I wouldn't call  
But I'm a little drunk and I need you now**  
And I don't know how I can do without  
I just need you now, I just need you now

"Wow, you're really good Angel," Max said to me when we had finished.

"You're amazing. I really wish I had been here earlier in the year so I could have seen the music festival."

"Well," Max said, "Why don't you put on a performance in front of the music class. You got in, right?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that."

"Mrs. Medria is going to force you to anyways."

"Will you perform with me?"

"What song?"

"This one."

"Fine," she said, "But you owe me one."

"Deal," I said. We started to critique ourselves just as the doorbell rang.

**Does anybody else out there like Lady Antebellum?**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had writer's block/was really angry at Fang. If you want to know more, PM me or ask in a review. Let's just say I primarily ship Miggy now. I ship Fax as my secondary ship and will never ship Mylan.**

**On with the story!**

_Fang POV_

I was aware of the shift in attitude towards me. I knew that dating Max for this long would be a mistake. I loved her, but reputations last longer than love. Right? As I started pondering this, I realized I was becoming much more distant from Max. She noticed as well, but didn't say anything. I watched as she started hanging off to the edge of crowds, started getting picked on more. She was going back to how she used to be, and it was killing me, but reputation before relation.

"Hey, Fang," Lissa said from behind me, "Since you're not with that freak anymore, wanna get back together?"

"Sure," I said, forgetting that I was still with Max.

As the weeks passed, the word didn't leak. The double relationship was working fine. Until Lissa wanted to come over. With Max living with me, that was kind of hard. Iggy wouldn't help even if he knew. I couldn't help but remember his threat about what would happen if I hurt her. Especially after such a hard life. I managed to have Lissa over, but it couldn't stay hidden forever, of course.

"Fang," Max said one day, "We need to talk."

Did she find out? I didn't know, but I could easily figure that out.

"About what?" I asked.

"Two things," she said, "Both of which are important."

"Okay," I said, "Continue."

"Well," she started, "One is about what I'm teaching you. I would wait, but I might not be staying here much longer, so I'll teach you now. A mediator can gain their human soul by going through three emotional cycles. All of them must be completed, but in no particular order. There is Acceptance, which is when at least one person accepts you for who you are, maybe not what, but who. The next one is Grief. Be it from losing someone close to you, or someone you thought you truly loved. And that brings us to the last one. Love. You need to be with someone who loves you completely and whom you love completely. That's where so many mediators go wrong. Good luck if you decide to try and get your human soul back."

"What was the second thing?"

I heard her sigh quietly, "I can't be with someone who lies and cheats. Don't deny it, you've been dating Lissa. Let's just say you were a little careless when you were swapping spit the other day. I'm not going to date someone I can't trust, and I can't trust you. I should have known that you would do this, but I guess I was blinded. Like every other girl I swore never to become."

She got up and walked out of the room. I couldn't believe it. I had hurt her, all for my reputation. How stupid can I get?

_Time Skip: 3 weeks_

School was out, and I was going to a three week sports camp. When I got on the bus, I looked back and saw Max, my mom and Iggy. For some reason, I felt like this would be the last time I would see Max in a long time.

**A slightly upseting chapter, but for those of you who wanted a little TaylorxMax fluff a while back, you'll get your wish. And maybe even more. If you can figure out what happens with Taylor and Max (minus you Molly) then you will get a special preview of a later chapter. Molly is an actual friend of mine who is also on Fanfiction, I told her about my plans for this story.**

**~VampiresExplodeInLight**


	28. Chapter 28

_Max POV_

I had finished packing my stuff. I had been applying to colleges and hadn't been accepted until yesterday morning. I was going to a college that was over 600 miles away. I wouldn't be visiting often, but if Iggy, the girls, or Ari needed to contact me they had my phone number, YouTube account, my email, and my Facebook. I only used my email and my YouTube, but Ella insisted I make a Facebook so she could easily message me without "getting distracted watching funny videos". Please save me.

I was to fly there in two days, and Fang was to be back home in three. He would be back the day after I left. His mom was trying to get the sports camp to allow him back a day early (much to my unspoken dismay) so he could be one of the group that was seeing me off. I was fine with the current group. It was Ari, Iggy, Ella, Angel, Nudge, J.J., Iggy's girlfriend Tess, and Fang's mom. My mother wanted nothing to do with me, even though I was one third of the way to being human again. I had the loss and the grief. All I needed was Acceptance and Love.

* * *

When the day came that I was supposed to fly off, Fang was home. He had just gotten home when Iggy and I were going over my contact info for the billionth time (he didn't want anything forgotten, though Ella promised to help with contacting me in case he forgot) and double checking that I had everything. I was taking almost everything but my instruments. I was taking my guitar, amp and violin, but the rest I was leaving for Ari, who also had a good bit of musical talent.

"What's going on?" Fang asked, "Why do you have everything packed?"

"I'm leaving," I said, "I'm skipping Junior and Senior years to go to college early."

"But you're only fifteen! You aren't even legal yet!"

"I've been emancipated, meaning I have all the rights of a legal adult. So you don't need to worry.":

He rolled his eyes and took my suitcase from me.

"I'm not letting you go," he said, "Why would even want to go?"

"Look," I said, "I'm not going to stay just because you don't want me to? I have already bought the plane tickets and I already have my dorm assigned. I'm sorry, but I'm leaving."

"Well how am I going to contact you?" he asked, "We are still friends after all."

"I left my contact information with a select few that I knew would need it, use it, and wouldn't give it to others. If you need them to tell me something, ask them to send it in a message or an email. Or they can call me and you can tell me yourself. I'm sorry Fang, but I'm leaving."

With that, Iggy and I finished going over my stuff and then we loaded the car. I went back to my old home to get Ari, since he wanted to ride with me to the airport. He would have gone to the college with me if he could have.

Fang glared at me the entire way to the airport, earning several glares from me and Ari. Iggy joked around, telling me to find him a hot girl while I was there. Sexist pig. We walked through the airport, knowing I wouldn't see any of them in a long time.

* * *

Time Skip: 4 hours

MAX POV

I walked into the college not knowing anyone, but unaware that the best years of my life, and the best friends I would ever make, were in the same dorm I was about to walk into in fifteen minutes time.

**I am NOT done this story and I am SO sorry I didn't update in such a long time. There were a million things happening and I was procrastinating. I'll try to update again tonight.**


	29. Chapter 29

_Max POV_

It had been two months since I left, and I was already having a great time. My classes were fun, the people what shared the dorm with me were even better, and I still had contact with my closest friends. The only thing that made it better was the fact that I hadn't heard a single word from Fang. This slipped my mind after three weeks, though, because of Taylor and the girls. I had found acceptance. The last thing, the hardest thing was Love. I just didn't realize how soon that would come. That in two years, the happiest day of my life would occur in the place where the worst years of my life were spent. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's start with the girls. Sierra, Jenny and Brianna (whom we called Bri) were my best friends. Sierra is the control freak who is slightly violent, Jenny is the peaceful innocent, and Brianna is a sweet girl, who loves bananas. Don't cross her though, because she has a leek she made out of pencils and duct tape, and she's not afraid to hit you with it...

Let's go to the time when we were filming our first video as a band, Overly Random and Really Overdramatic Girls Stuck in their College Dorm Room For Five Hours Are Here To Entertain You All! (Sierra's idea, not mine). We had filmed quite a few videos together, but we were a band now (though we didn't have a name...).

_Fang POV_

I was walking by Iggy's room when I heard a familiar voice I there, specifically Max's voice. I walked in and watched a video that was playing. It had her and three other girls.

_"If you've been following us, which I know most of you and I also know this is one of the ways we keep in touch, then you know Sierra, Jenny, Brianna and I, so no explanation there, well we have an overly random video, because we've been locked in our dorm room for five hours. Don't ask. Here goes nothing."_

_"BANANAS!" a short blonde girl said, "I LOVE BANANAS!"_

_"We have another Len on our hands... brace yourselves!" a brunnete-red haired girl shouted._

_"WILL YOU ALL STOP TALKING ABOUT VOCALOID! I DON'T CARE!" the full-on red-head said._

_"Sheesh Sierra," Max said, "No need to be so loud. You could ask nicely."_

_"What is this 'nicely' you speak of?" the blonde asked, "That does not compute with the words Sierra Mesha."_

_"Somebody really needs to lay of the caffeine," Sierra said._

_"We've been in our dorm for FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT Sierra, you have to expect us to be SOMEWHAT roudy! And you know how Bri gets when she's been deprived of sleep for two days!" the brunnete-red haired girl, who must have been Jenny, said. _

_"Wasn't the point of this video to announce Nothing Here Folks?" Bri asked._

_"We haven't decided on a name, so it's not official. Anyways, the point was just to be REALLY random. Really random. I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY random." Jenny said._

_"And now you've done it," Max said, "You've condemned us all. Telling Bri she can be really random is like giving an already hyper five year old a ton of sugar AND caffeine."_

_"Crap," Jenny said, "You're right. RUN FOR THE HILLS!"_

_"JENNY!" Sierra shouted, "STOP IT! We already have one overdramatic person on our hands, we don't need another."_

_"But isn't the title of this video 'Overly Random and Really Overdramatic Girls Stuck in their College Dorm Room For Five Hours are Here to Entertain You' or something?" Jenny asked._

_"Yes," Max said, "And why have we been stuck in our dorms for DAYS!"_

_"There was something about a problem in the school. Something about the plumbing or the vetilation. We're going to be stuck here for, like, three days or something." Sierra said._

_"Ah," Max said, "So are we allowed to go out? Like, to town?"_

I had never seen Max like this, so free and happy. It was like she was an entirely different person. She was just there on the couch, talking with two somewhat-civilized girls and a really hyper girl. It was like she had been washed free of the pain she suffered here. Iggy hadn't stopped laughing yet. Then again, he knew who these people were.

_"Yep," Sierra said, "We're allowed out on the town. Why?"_

_"Because," Max said, "If we took Bri into a grocery store and let her buy actual leeks, we might be able to negotiate her into calming down."_

_"You'll make them, right?" Bri asked._

_"Yep," Max replied, "I'll make them with tuna and seaweed, just how you like them."_

_"YAY! I'LL CALM DOWN! OR, I'LL TRY AT LEAST! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO!" Bri screamed. _

The video cut off and Iggy was clutching his sides laughing as he said, "I know you're there Fang. It's kind of hard to miss it when you gasped at the attitude of the girls. What's with the sudden showing of emotions?"

"Nothing," I said, "Who were they?"

"Obviously you know Max, the other three _are_ her best friends. She met them at the college, and they make these kind of videos all the time. Why?"

"What channel is that? What's the account?" he asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you. I've been given explicit instructions from Max not to tell you! And you won't find it on my computer because it's password locked and I just shut it off. Beat that."

I just punched his shoulder, causing him to fall back into the chair.

"What was that for?!" he shouted, "I was told not to tell you by my best friend, so I'm going to honor that. I don't know what happened, but obviously you screwed up. Which means you hurt her. What did you do?"

"Nothing," I said, "It's none of your business. I just moved on from her, but didn't inform her."

"So you cheated? Fang, you're such an idiot! How could you do that?" he screamed, "She trusted you!"

"Well she's gone now, and it looks like she's over it!" I yelled back. And then I said words I would regret the rest of my life.

* * *

_Max POV_

"Come on Max," Bri yelled, "We forgot! You two were supposed to meet today!"

"What? Who? What's going on?" I questioned, knowing something was up. I followed them, repeating the same questions over and over again until someone wrapped me in a hug.

"It's so good to see you!" I heard Taylor say.

"Taylor! What are you doing here!? Why are you here in this small town!?" I asked.

"I go to school here when I'm not on tour. I'm going to major in science. I'm hoping to cure cancer!"

"Same here," I said, "Why do you want to cure cancer?"

"Two reasons, the first, and the least important, is because I want to, and the second is... Well, the second is because I remember how you were when your brother was getting over it, and I wanted to help."

"He's better now," I said, "But I'm glad to see you! I didn't realize how much I missed you until now!"

"So," Jenny said, "You knew Taylor York and you didn't say anything? Meany!"

"Sorry! But I do have a question for Taylor, how did you know I was here?"

"Well," he said, "I asked Ella, and she said you had moved to a college. She said it was really far away. When I asked her what college and she told me, I figured I would contact your friends and set up a place and time to meet you at."

I smiled and hugged him tightly. He was just so sweet, I wished I had known him all my life."

"Come on," he said, "Let's get some lunch."

And the very first time Taylor and I ever went out was on that day.

* * *

_Fang POV_

"If that's how you really feel!" Iggy yelled at me, "Seriously, you couldn't spare her AT ALL! She had so much already taken out of her, and you felt the need to PLAY HER! Idiot! I can't believe I'm your brother!"

Iggy stormed out, leaving me wanting to just throw my reputation out the window. Who would say that kind of thing? An idiot. Yes, I know. Don't make me feel worse.

I saw Ari sitting on the chair next to the computer, watching me.

"Why did you do that to her?" he asked. Such an innocent seven-year-old.

"I didn't. I just said that in the heat of the argument," I said.

"No, not play her. I knew you liked her, but why did you cheat on her?" he asked.

"How did you know about that?"

"Max took me to a store I really like, and something was wrong. When I asked her, she said you were just a jerk and she never should have trusted you. She also told me about her going to college, so I was really happy for her. But why did you do that?" he asked, the question shining in his eyes.

"Because, I don't know. I really don't," I said, "I just thought my reputation was more important than a relationship."

"Well," he said, "I talked to her yesterday, and when I brought you up, she changed the subject. She's still mad at you."

"As should be expected," I said, "She is your sister."

Ari rolled his eyes like Max would have and got up. "I have to go find Iggy, but don't follow me. I'll explain it to him."

* * *

_Max POV_

"So," Taylor said, "What's your dorm number?"

"253," I answered him, not even thinking of why he would need that.

"Mines 252, right across from yours," he told me. He smiled and then started running back toward the dorms. I rolled my eyes and started running after him. Jenny, Sierra and Bri had disappeared during the lunch making excuses such as 'I need to get more leeks' (Bri), 'I have a project to work on,' (Jenny) and 'This is too lovey-dovey, even if you two don't realize it, and I'm about to choke' (Sierra *insert eye-roll*).

Just as I caught up to where he was a few seconds ago, I felt something tackle me. When I turned my body to see who it was, you can guess who it was. If you said Taylor, you would be correct. If you said Fang, re-read the last two chapters.

"Come on," he said, helping me up, "We better get back before the girls wonder where you are."

As he and I walked back, I realized just how much fun I had. I hadn't had fun since seventh grade... but let's not get into that.

**AND I'VE UPDATED! JUST LIKE I PROMISED!**


	30. Chapter 30

_Fang POV_

I had become solitary as time passed, so when people started talking about some group called Nowhere Normal, I had no idea what they were. Ella apparently, had gotten tickets for herself, Iggy, me, Ari, basically all of them plus me.

"Come on!" Ella called. Everyone was in our living room while I stalled for time. They were some group that had created a genre known as "Alternative Pop". Somehow, they studied online while on tour. And the singer was dating the guitarist from Paramore. The only group there I was remotely looking forward to.

I ran down the steps, knowing full well that Ella would be ticked that I had made us 'so late'. Apparently, we got to talk with Nowhere Normal before and after the show, as well as intermission. Ella knew the singer or something. I really could care less. At least, that's what I thought until I found out who the singer was.

* * *

_Max POV_

Ella was bringing the whole gang (including Fang) to the concert tonight, which was only possible because of Taylor being so awesome. He convinced Hayley and Jeremy to let us open for them. We got to sing three songs, since there were other groups (and Christina Grimmie *insert all of us fangirling for hours*) there opening as well. Hayley was really excited for the concert here, since this is where Taylor and I met. Also known as my hometown. Taylor and I had started dating months before, but it had only gotten to Ella and Nudge a few weeks ago. Cue the nonstop Facebook messages. And Youtube. And phone messages. And... you get the point.

We walked out on stage to hear loud applause and screaming. We had gotten such a fan base in such a short time, we were worried about this just being a phase. But we figured we would be okay. We always had Youtube!

We started off with Break Your Little Heart **(I'm not inserting lyrics in for this chapter, since I have some other stuff to work on). **We had such a blast performing, we had forgotten who we had dedicated that song to. All of us had wanted to break one of our exes hearts. We hadn't succeeded. But we had all moved on.

* * *

_Fang POV_

"And now we're going to go on to Sweet Sacrifice, but before we do, I'd like to say, I know way too many of you," Max said. She was so lighthearted, you'd think she was a totally different person. Which is probably true, since she was almost human again. She was on the stage laughing and having fun, like she had done that all her life. She was born to perform. And that sounded weird. Forget that line. Anyways, I watched as they performed their last song and went back with Ella for intermission. I had made us to late to talk to Nowhere Normal, so Ella forced me to go back with them.

"Hey Ella!" Max said, hugging each person in turn, "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't make it when you guys didn't come back earlier!"

"Sorry," Ella said, "But Fang made us late. I'm so sorry! Ari was so excited to see you too. He was so happy to get here, only to find out that the show had already started! Anyways, he's been wanting to see you for ages! It's been what, almost a year?"

"Yes Ella," Max said, "It's almost been a year. And where is the little guy? I have been wanting to see him forever!"

"MAXIE!" Ari called while running over to her. She hadn't noticed me yet, for which I was partially glad. And partially hurt. She was paying attention to everybody else, but she hadn't paid any notice to me. I watched as they got along well. Just as I was about to leave the room, Taylor walked in. And I was forced to watch as they all talked and got along. Sierra, Brianna and Jenny were all speaking with Ella and them as well. Taylor and Max were working on something together, leaving me to stay off to the side.

"Come on!" Max said, "Time to go out into the crowd! Paramore's going on!"

And that's when the real pain started.

**Done with this chapter. What would you think if I wrote a story where Max was a vampire? She won't sparkle, but she will burn in the light. Not like burn totally. It'll start as a sunburn and slowly progress to a full on burn. Please review! And tell me what you think of the new story idea!**


	31. Chapter 31

_Fang POV_

I watched as everyone laughed and joked, but I was forced to be off to the sides because of what I was. They knew. And so did Max. Everyone enjoyed it without me. I tried to talk, but no one listened. It was all about Max, as much as she directed the attention away. Eventually, she had to go backstage, leaving me with everyone else. After Paramore, and talking with the groups later, we left.

"That was so much fun!" Ella gushed, "And I'm so happy for Max and Taylor. Oh my gosh, Sierra was so much like J.J. And Brianna was just amazing! Did you hear her guitar?"

"Yeah," Nudge said, "And I can't believe Max gets to go to PARIS! I've always wanted to go to Paris!"

They kept that up for about three hours. Which I was stuck listening to since I was stuck in the car with them, and then forced to stay with them through dinner and then the "traditional" after-concert hangout. Please spare me. I have enough guilt after what I said, I don't need more.

"Fang," Nudge said, snapping me out of my pity party, "Is that true?"

"What?" I asked, having been oblivious to the conversation.

"That you said-"

_Max POV_

Taylor and I walked around. It had been a year and nothing had changed. Lissa still strutted around like she owned the place (we had seen her) and everyone was overall the same. My mom still hated my guts. Ari still loved me to pieces.

I watched as it disappeared when we drove to the airport. I would miss this little town. I was going to the next city, and I didn't remember which one it was. That my friends, is a fail. And now I sound like Iggy.

_Fang POV_

"Yeah," I replied, "but we were arguing and it was just a heat of the moment thing! I didn't mean it!"

"Yeah right," Nudge said, "You did, I can tell by the way your all defensive! You won't own up to it because you regret losing Max! I know what that feels like! But to say that you never loved her! When she CLEARLY loved you entirely! That's just selfish!"

"I'm leaving," I said, "You guys can enjoy your dinner, but I'm walking home. Why be somewhere I'm not welcome?"

As I got up to leave, I could feel their icy glares on my back. I screwed up. Big time.

**Short, and for that I'm sorry, but I have this massive Hetalia/MR plot bunny that I must write. And then I have updates to do. I'll update soon (hopefully)! I probably won't update any time after tomorrow to Tuesday because my aunt who lives in Colorado is coming to visit. Yay!**

**~AkitaNeruVocaloid**


	32. EPILOGUE! LAST CHAPTER!

_Fang's POV_

It had been twenty-three years since I saw Max. She had married Taylor and they had twins. Yay for them. Lissa was hanging off of me like I was some kind of god. I had nowhere to go. I just got by and lived the life of many. Get by and know you'll die one day. But now, I was getting a foster kid. Yay.

Max had died in a car crash and somehow, the second twin had survived. Everyone else had died. I guess it was to make me feel guilty, but the rest of the "Flock" made me adopt her.

Oh, crap. This notebooks run out of space. Well, got to go.

**There will be a sequel! My friend would kill me if I didn't! And by the way, in the sequel, there are DEMONS!**


	33. Chapter 33

Okay, I've uploaded the sequel. Sorry for the wait, but my computer is evil (read the AN at the bottom of the first chapter) and I have to do my updates from the library. I love nightcore though, it's so fast and I tend to move (and type) in tempo. Which is why I like fast paced music.


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